The Endangered Species Act Success Stories - Oceana USA

The Endangered Species Act Success Stories

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is one of our nation’s most successful and popular environmental laws. Passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 1973, the law has prevented 99% of the species under its care from going extinct. Hundreds of species are on the path to recovery thanks to the ESA. Explore some success stories:

 

GREEN SEA TURTLE

Once hunted for their meat, shells, and eggs, green sea turtles were near extinction. Even after poaching was banned in the U.S., they continued to struggle — getting entangled in fishing gear, struck by boats, and losing their nesting beaches. But in 1978, the Endangered Species Act became their lifeline. Protections under this law led to critical conservation efforts, that included reducing incidental catch in fishing gear, safeguarding nesting sites, and restoring vital habitats.

The impact? Nothing short of incredible. In Florida, green sea turtle nests have soared from near zero in 1978 to over 200,000 nests in recent years. The North Atlantic population was upgraded in protection from endangered to threatened, a sign of its continued progress back from the brink.

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SEA OTTER

Sea otters aren’t just adorable — they’re ocean masterminds! One of the only marine mammals to use tools, they crack shellfish open with rocks and even stash their favorite dining tools in pockets of loose skin. They will also wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting away. But their dense fur once made them a target. By the 1900s, hunting had reduced their population from 300,000 to less than a few thousand. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, sea otters are making a comeback. As a keystone species, their return has wide-reaching impacts, helping kelp forests thrive. These kelp forests support fisheries, store carbon, and shelter countless species including commercially important fish species, octopus, sea stars, sharks, and whales. Sea otters prove that when we protect wildlife, we protect whole ecosystems. Still, southern sea otters are listed as threatened, only occupying 13% of their historic range, and they need continued protection to fully recover.

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HUMPBACK WHALE


Once nearly wiped out by industrial whaling, humpback whales saw their numbers drop by a shocking 95%. But thanks to the ESA and Marine Mammal Protection Act, some populations of these ocean giants got a second chance. With strong protections in place, decades of conservation, research, and monitoring paid off. In 2016, scientists confirmed the Hawaii population had recovered and was taken off the list of species protected by the ESA. Scientists estimate this population – which spend winters off Hawaii and feeds in waters off Alaska, Russia, and British Columbia – grew 87% from 1981 to 2022 with over 11,000 whales! However, other humpback whale populations, like those that spend winters off the Central American Pacific remain endangered, and we continue to fight to prevent them from key threats like entanglement in fishing gear. The Hawaiian humpback whale comeback proves that conservation works, but only if we keep fighting for it.

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BROWN PELICAN



Once nearly wiped out by the feather trade, then poisoned by pesticides, the brown pelican is the original success story of the Endangered Species Act. In the late 1800s, these iconic coastal birds were hunted relentlessly for their feathers, prized in high fashion. Then, in the 1950s, they faced a new threat: DDT. This toxic pesticide made its way up the food chain, causing pelican eggshells to thin and break before chicks could hatch. Their numbers plummeted. Listed as endangered in 1970 under the precursor to the Endangered Species Act, the brown pelican’s turning point came when DDT was banned in the United States in 1972 and with habitat protection thanks to the ESA. As DDT contamination levels dropped, their populations rebounded. By 2009, they were fully removed from the endangered species list.

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The Endangered Species Act Success Stories

 

GREEN SEA TURTLE

Once hunted for their meat, shells, and eggs, green sea turtles were near extinction. Even after poaching was banned in the U.S., they continued to struggle — getting entangled in fishing gear, struck by boats, and losing their nesting beaches. But in 1978, the Endangered Species Act became their lifeline. Protections under this law led to critical conservation efforts, that included reducing incidental catch in fishing gear, safeguarding nesting sites, and restoring vital habitats.

The impact? Nothing short of incredible. In Florida, green sea turtle nests have soared from near zero in 1978 to over 200,000 nests in recent years. The North Atlantic population was upgraded in protection from endangered to threatened, a sign of its continued progress back from the brink.

DOWNLOAD

SEA OTTER

Sea otters aren’t just adorable — they’re ocean masterminds! One of the only marine mammals to use tools, they crack shellfish open with rocks and even stash their favorite dining tools in pockets of loose skin. They will also wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting away. But their dense fur once made them a target. By the 1900s, hunting had reduced their population from 300,000 to less than a few thousand. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, sea otters are making a comeback. As a keystone species, their return has wide-reaching impacts, helping kelp forests thrive. These kelp forests support fisheries, store carbon, and shelter countless species including commercially important fish species, octopus, sea stars, sharks, and whales. Sea otters prove that when we protect wildlife, we protect whole ecosystems. Still, southern sea otters are listed as threatened, only occupying 13% of their historic range, and they need continued protection to fully recover.

DOWNLOAD

HUMPBACK WHALE


Once nearly wiped out by industrial whaling, humpback whales saw their numbers drop by a shocking 95%. But thanks to the ESA and Marine Mammal Protection Act, some populations of these ocean giants got a second chance. With strong protections in place, decades of conservation, research, and monitoring paid off. In 2016, scientists confirmed the Hawaii population had recovered and was taken off the list of species protected by the ESA. Scientists estimate this population – which spend winters off Hawaii and feeds in waters off Alaska, Russia, and British Columbia – grew 87% from 1981 to 2022 with over 11,000 whales! However, other humpback whale populations, like those that spend winters off the Central American Pacific remain endangered, and we continue to fight to prevent them from key threats like entanglement in fishing gear. The Hawaiian humpback whale comeback proves that conservation works, but only if we keep fighting for it.

DOWNLOAD

BROWN PELICAN



Once nearly wiped out by the feather trade, then poisoned by pesticides, the brown pelican is the original success story of the Endangered Species Act. In the late 1800s, these iconic coastal birds were hunted relentlessly for their feathers, prized in high fashion. Then, in the 1950s, they faced a new threat: DDT. This toxic pesticide made its way up the food chain, causing pelican eggshells to thin and break before chicks could hatch. Their numbers plummeted. Listed as endangered in 1970 under the precursor to the Endangered Species Act, the brown pelican’s turning point came when DDT was banned in the United States in 1972 and with habitat protection thanks to the ESA. As DDT contamination levels dropped, their populations rebounded. By 2009, they were fully removed from the endangered species list.

DOWNLOAD

 

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