Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 17 January 2018

World’s largest sea turtle could come off ‘endangered’ list

By PATRICK WHITTLE ing regulations without
Associated Press scientific data in front of
Federal ocean manag- them,” he said.
ers say it might be time to “The more turtles there are,
move the East Coast pop- the more interactions you
ulation of the world’s larg- are bound to have with
est turtle from the United them.”
States’ list of endangered The leatherback sea turtle
animals. has been the subject of
An arm of the National intense interest from con-
Oceanic and Atmospher- servation groups over the
ic Administration has re- years. It’s listing as endan-
ceived a petition from a gered by the U.S. predates
fishing group asking that the modern Endangered
the Northwest Atlantic Species Act that was en-
Ocean’s leatherback sea acted in 1973.
turtles be listed as “threat- The Costa Rica-based
ened,” but not endan- Leatherback Trust, an inter-
gered, under the Endan- national nonprofit group,
gered Species Act. The describes them as “ancient
giant reptiles, which can creatures celebrated in
weigh 2,000 pounds, would creation myths belonging
remain protected under to diverse cultures around
federal law, but their status the world.”
would be moved down a In this March 12, 2015, file photo, a rare leatherback sea turtle named Yawkey moves off the International Union for
notch. beach and returns to the the Atlantic Ocean at Isle of Palms, S.C., after it was treated at the South Conservation of Nature lists
NOAA officials have said Carolina Aquarium. the leatherback sea turtle
the agency has reviewed Associated Press as “vulnerable,” which
the petition from New listing should be changed the Northwestern Atlantic’s change of listing in part to is one notch above “en-
Jersey-based Blue Water will require determining the leatherback population to spur new research into the dangered” on the IUCN’s
Fishermen’s Association stability of the population, be considered a distinct status of the leatherback scale. It’s one of the largest
and found “substantial sci- said Jennifer Schultz, a fish- segment of the popula- population, said Ernie Pan- reptiles on Earth, feeding
entific and commercial in- eries biologist with NOAA tion. That segment would acek, a past president of mostly on jellyfish, which
formation” that the move Fisheries. include all of the leather- the organization. Data has left them at risk to plas-
might be warranted. The “We’ll look at scientific pa- backs that nest on beach- about species such as sea tic in the ocean, which can
agency now has about pers, we look at the best es in the eastern U.S. states. turtles and marine mam- kill them if they ingest it.
eight months to make a available scientific and But NOAA Fisheries is going mals play a role in craft- They are also notable for
decision about the status commercial data,” she to look at the status of the ing fishing regulations, and being the deepest diving
of the turtles. said. “And then we’ll say, turtles worldwide, said An- fishermen fear the govern- and most migratory of all
Leatherbacks live all over ‘What does the status look gela Somma, chief of en- ment is using outdated sea turtles, and for their
the world’s oceans and like? How are they do- dangered species division data about leatherbacks, lack of a bony shell.
have been listed as en- ing?’” with NOAA Fisheries. he said. NOAA is collecting infor-
dangered by the U.S. since The fishing group that re- Blue Water Fishermen’s As- “I get a little frustrated in mation and comments on
1970. Deciding whether the quested the change wants sociation requested the the fact that they are mak- the subject until Feb. 5.q
Warning: Stifling sneezes can be health hazard in rare cases

By MARIA CHENG LONDON (AP) — Tempted sneeze? Let it out instead, cy room of a Leicester hos-
AP Medical Writer to stifle a loud or untimely doctors in England warned pital, complaining of swal-
Monday based on the very lowing difficulties and “a
unusual case of a man popping sensation” in his
who ruptured the back of swollen neck.
his throat when he tried to The 34-year-old patient told
suppress a sneeze. them his problems started
In a case study published after he tried to stop a
in the journal BMJ Case forceful sneeze by pinch-
Reports, doctors described ing his nose and closing his
their initial confusion when mouth. He eventually lost In this Jan. 14, 2005 file photo,
the previously healthy man his voice and spent a week a man sneezes holding a
turned up in the emergen- in the hospital.q tissue in Berlin, Germany.
Associated Press