In a 1985 review George Balazs reported that tar balls were the second most common type of ingested debris. Oil on the skin can also affect respiration and salt gland functions. The US National Marine Fisheries Service is currently analysing stranding data and available necropsy information to determine the magnitude of debris ingestion. Many threats exist to nesting turtles and hatchlings. Nesting beach hazards Anthropogenic hazards to nesting turtles, eggs and young include egg collecting, mechanical raking, compaction of sand by vehicles and humans, wheel ruts trapping hatchlings, debris piled over nests, beach nourishment schemes, sea defence works, direct disturbance of nesting females and artificial lights which disorientate adults and hatchlings.
Monitoring is a major problem.
Conservation issues Recognition that they live here . People in the UK imagine turtles live elsewhere, but in fact leatherbacks are clearly a part of the fauna of the Celtic Sea, and we may even have an important summer concentration just off the edge of our continental shelf. An observer programme on such fisheries is needed. Marine debris needs control at source. Ingestion of plastic rubbish is a serious issue.