USPS Makes a Splash With New Sea Turtles Stamps

The U.S. Postal Service will celebrate the majesty of marine turtles with Protect Sea Turtles, new stamps aimed at raising awareness of the plight of six endangered species dependent on U.S. coastal waters.

When: June 11, 2024, at 11 a.m. CDT

Background: For more than 100 million years, the ancestors of marine turtles swam the oceans. Yet in less than a century, exploitation and habitat destruction have devastated their numbers. The Postal Service celebrates these intriguing creatures with six new stamps — featuring species dependent on U.S. coastal waters for foraging and migratory habitats during various stages of their lives — in the hope of raising awareness of their plight.

All of the sea turtles depicted on the stamps are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act:

Kemp’s ridley (Doug Perrine, photographer)

Leatherback (Rowan Byrne, photographer)

Olive ridley (Solvin Zankl, photographer)

Green sea turtle (David B. Fleetham, photographer)

Loggerhead (James D. Watt, photographer)

Hawksbill (Claudio Contreras, photographer)

Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps using existing photographs. The Postal Service printed 27 million Protect Sea Turtles stamps.

USPS