It’s virtually impossible not to hear about all the human-caused destruction that’s been happening to the planet and wild animals are often the least able to cope with the changes we’re making. Wildlife needs our protection more than ever and I’m about to tell you about one way that you can help one species nearby, from the comfort of your computer.

Pacific leatherback sea turtles are one of those species in grave danger of leaving us forever and the US government will examine granting protection to their critical foraging habitat. Leatherbacks, possibly the most endangered sea turtle, seasonally swim to a 200,000 square-mile nutrient rich area area of ocean upwelling -- between Big Sur, California and central Oregon -- to feed on jellyfish, thousands of miles from their nesting grounds in Indonesia.

Image courtesy of Thomas Litteral, Sea Turtle Restoration Project

Several environmental groups petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service last year to designate this essential feeding ground as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. The designation would make certain that no harmful activities be carried out in the area. NMFS has agreed that the habitat is valuable to leatherbacks and must ask for public comments on whether the waters should be protected and do a detailed review by Spetember 2008.

All you have to do – by Tuesday, February 26 – is go to the NMFS website and tell them how crucial the protection is. (Enter your name and address, then enter your comments or cut and paste from the sample letter below. When you're ready to submit your comments, go to the very bottom of the page and click "next step." You can then confirm and submit your comments. You don't need to use the "attachment" option at Regulations.gov.)

Historically, the main threat to leatherbacks was egg poaching and although that threat still exists, since 1980 their populations have reportedly plummeted by over 95%, mainly due to gill-nets and longline fishing gear (for swordfish) that entangle and drown them, as well as other unintended species. But if formal protection under the ESA could be granted to their vital feeding and migratory areas, where deadly fishing gear would be off limits while the turtles are present, they may have a chance. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that filed the petition, it’s the only way we can protect these enormous, magnificent creatures -- the last member of an ancient lineage -- from going extinct. They survived the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, but they have no defense against our bloody fishing gear.

Please contact the NMFS today, before it’s too late!

Below is a sample letter written by the Center for Biological Diversity (but try to put it in your own words as much as possible):

RIN 0648-XE13 Pacific Leatherback Critical Habitat

I strongly support the designation of critical habitat for the Pacific leatherback off the U.S. West Coast. Scientific studies show that Pacific leatherbacks nesting in Indonesia rely on the waters off California and Oregon as a vital feeding area. The seasonal abundance of jellyfish in this area is so critical to Pacific leatherbacks that they travel thousands of miles across the Pacific to feed.

Both the perilously low population level of Pacific leatherback and the critical importance of its West Coast foraging grounds make it imperative that the National Marine Fisheries Service designate this area as critical habitat and protect it to the full extent of the law. One of the greatest threats to Pacific leatherbacks is death by entanglement in fishing gear; longlines and gillnets in particular pose grave threats to feeding and migrating leatherbacks. The Service recognized this when it established the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area and closed it to harmful fishing gear while leatherbacks are feeding in the area.

I urge you to grant formal, permanent protection under the Endangered Species Act to the leatherback's critical feeding area and the adjacent areas it uses to access those feeding grounds. Designating this area as critical habitat will provide much-needed protection for leatherbacks and help to ensure that these individuals can return to their nesting grounds well fed and ready to perpetuate the species.

Thank you.