But today, all sea turtles found in U.S. waters are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act and are internationally recognized as endangered. Human activities within the past few decades especially fishing practices that ensnarl sea turtles - have drawn these saltwater reptiles to the edge of extinction. Sea turtles are air-breathing reptiles that spend most of their lives in the ocean. They hatch on land and female turtles return to the beach on which they were born to nest. Sea turtles often have to swim thousands of miles from feeding to nesting grounds, crossing many national borders as they do so.
Sea turtles have an extremely high natural mortality rate, and are slow to mature.
Only a few hatchlings from each nest live to adulthood. They reach reproductive maturity in 10 to 50 years. Scientists estimate that fewer than 2,300 adult females continue to survive in the Pacific Ocean, compared with 91,000 in 1980. Only a few decades ago as many as 40,000 females nested in one day on a single beach in northeast Mexico. By the beginning of the 1990s, fewer than 1,000 nesting females were believed to exist worldwide.