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A 10-year study of Pacific leatherback turtles suggests that they are nearing
extinction. Researchers from Drexel University, Philadelphia, injected
transponder tags into turtles to track a nesting female population at Playa
Grande, Costa Rica. The number of females detected dropped from 1367 in 1988 to
just 117 in 1998, and using a mathematical model the researchers predict that
fewer than 50 will remain by 2004. Team leader James Spotila says in this week’s
Nature that changes to fishing practices are needed to ensure turtles
are not caught accidentally.