Ariel Evan Mayse, an associate professor of religious studies at Stanford University and founding member of ACRE: Applied Collaboratory for Religion of Ecology, and Emily Zinkula, also a member of the ACRE leadership team and a second-year law student at Stanford University, write, “Green sea turtles are rare but welcome visitors to the Bay Area, delighting visitors and residents as they appear in waters near the Berkeley Marina, the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and just off the Golden Gate Bridge. These charismatic reptiles, the second-largest sea turtle species, are gentle herbivores that provide vital ecosystem services by consuming algae, seagrass and seaweed.  Green sea turtles are susceptible to ocean pollution and climate change, and are particularly vulnerable to the harms of habitat destruction, including coastal and offshore development and resource extraction. Despite a nominal recovery in recent years, they are threatened, and without the essential defense afforded by the Endangered Species Act, the green sea turtle will follow other species into extinction.  Over the past half-century, the Endangered Species Act has been successful in preventing injuries to plants and creatures in peril. It has protected beloved animals like the bald eagle, California condor, the black-footed ferret and the gray whale. But under the Trump administration, the act is now under dire threat. … ”  Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.