An international team led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has documented a 78 percent decline in the number of nests of the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) at the turtle’s last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean. [singlepic id=916 w=320 h=240 float=center] The study, published online Feb. 26 in the Ecological Society of America’s scientific online journal Ecosphere, reveals leatherback nests at Jamursba Medi Beach in Papua Barat, Indonesia — which accounts for 75 percent of the total leatherback nesting in the western Pacific — have fallen from a peak of 14,455 in 1984 to a low of 1,532 in 2011. Less than 500 leatherbacks now nest at this site annually. Thane Wibbels, Ph.D., a professor of reproductive biology at UAB and member of a research team that includes … Read entire article »