They are regularly spotted in a channel near the Duke Energy power plant in Chula Vista, which releases warm seawater that is not harmful to the turtles and actually seems to attract them. Though there have been accounts of killer whales and large sharks going after sea turtles, man is their worst enemy, Dutton said. Peter Dutton, turtle project leader keeps an eye out for turtles as his crew, all turtle project research assistants, put out a net in the small channel near the Duke Power Plant in Chula Vista. They have adapted. Humans have really put a dent in the life cycle.
Hunters sell the green turtle's meat, oil, hides and shells.
Their eggs are widely used as food in tropical regions. And the turtles are sometimes accidentally captured in fishing nets and killed. The National Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a recovery plan in 1998, written by Dutton and an international team of biologists, that aims to protect the species. San Diego Bay creates a self-contained study area, which makes it easier to examine the turtles in the wild. The turtles, with body temperatures regulated by their environments, are attracted to the warm water near the power plant, Dutton said, but not for that reason alone.