Adrian Wilkes still remembers the first time he saw a leatherback turtle emerge from the Atlantic surf—massive, ancient, moving with a quiet dignity that seemed to defy time. Now, decades later, he’s helping lead a global effort to ensure those moments don’t vanish. On World Sea Turtle Day, the Wilkes Atlantic Leatherback Turtle Alliance (WALTA) was officially launched, uniting over 50 organizations across 25 countries in a coordinated bid to save one of the ocean’s most iconic yet imperiled species. Led by Professors Annette Broderick and Brendan Godley of the University of Exeter, the alliance arrives at a critical moment: while leatherbacks are listed as "vulnerable" globally, regional populations tell a starker story—"endangered" in the northwest Atlantic, "critically endangered" in the southwest, and alarmingly "data deficient" in the southeast, where we simply don’t know how many remain.
The alliance is designed to close these knowledge gaps with three urgent deliverables: an updated assessment of Atlantic-wide nesting, a comprehensive review of bycatch in fisheries—the leading cause of adult mortality—and a strategic framework to guide conservation action. For years, Exeter researchers have worked alongside local communities and governments from Gabon to Guyana, gathering data and building trust. Now, with support from the Wilkes Sea Turtle Protection Fund, that network is expanding into a formal, ocean-wide coalition. Bycatch, especially in industrial and small-scale fisheries, remains the biggest threat, but it’s compounded by coastal development, egg harvesting, boat strikes, plastic pollution, and the creeping impacts of climate change on nesting beaches.
Professor Broderick emphasizes the urgency: "Alarm bells are, however, now starting to ring," she says, noting that while Atlantic leatherbacks once seemed stable compared to their collapsing Pacific cousins, that stability can no longer be assumed. The alliance will synthesize decades of fragmented research into a unified knowledge base—something never before attempted at this scale. This isn’t just about data; it’s about direction. The resulting priorities will inform policy, guide funding, and push the fishing industry to adopt turtle-safe practices. Adrian Wilkes puts it plainly: "The purpose of the alliance won’t be to just chronicle the end of the leatherback species but to dictate the policies and actions by which we save them."
With an estimated 80% of adult leatherback deaths linked to fisheries, the stakes couldn’t be higher. But so is the momentum. From researchers in Brazil to fishers in Senegal, the response has been swift and collaborative. WALTA is now calling for even broader engagement—scientists, policymakers, donors, and coastal communities—to join the effort. These gentle giants have survived for over 100 million years. With coordinated action, they might just survive the Anthropocene, too.