High numbers of turtles are caught incidentally by fishers who are looking for other types of marine wildlife. The main reasons why the leatherback sea turtle is under this delicate conservation status are: The leatherback sea turtle is a species that has survived million of years, and now it is a species classified as Vulnerable according to the Red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). And the same is happening in several locations where they used to arrive to lay their eggs. There are approximately 25,000 breeding females worldwide left in the wild, but the numbers of all subpopulations have been falling dramatically during the last years, and in some places like Malaysia which in 1968 there were about 3,000 females every year, they are practically extinct from the area. Threatsĭue to the large size of this species, it does not have a lot of predators in their natural habitat, but large sharks and orcas attack them if they do not find another prey.Įggs and hatchlings are eaten by raccoons, lizards, crabs, seabirds, dogs, etc. Leatherback Sea Turtle – Dermochelys coriacea. They can do this 4 or 5 times during the breeding season with and interval of 8-12 days between deliveries. It is the only protective action performed by the mothers in this and all sea turtle species since once they are born, the offsprings have to survive on their own. They come to the sandy coasts at night and lay their eggs ranging in quantity from 50 to 170 and cover them with sand to moderate temperature and humidity. The females of other sea turtle species usually return to the beach where they were born, but leatherbacks typically choose other places. They do not have powerful muscles in their mouths unlike other sea turtle species, and their esophagus is equipped with downward directed spines to prevent gelatinous jellyfish from escaping when the turtle ingest them.Ī single female reproduces with several males, and these move their flippers or bite them to show their receptivity. They are immune to the poison of jellyfish, and therefore they consume this animal in large quantities. They supplement their diet with small fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, snails and sea urchins, but adults almost rely exclusively on jellyfish. Large specimens can eat up to 200 kg of jellyfish a day. Diet and FeedingĪs this species is immune to the poison of jellyfishes, it consumes large amounts of them, which helps to regulate the populations of these animals that reproduce at a very fast pace in some regions and feed on fish eggs, an evident inconvenient for the fishing industry. In fact, there are seven subpopulations which include most of the tropical oceans in the world. There are several subpopulations of leatherback sea turtles, living in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. from Indonesia to California a trip that can take them between 10 and 12 months to complete. Pacific species, for example, can travel up to 9,700 km. They are a migratory species whose distances traveled vary according to the geographic location of its habitat. Its distribution includes tropical, subtropical and subpolar seas. Like all turtles, they do not have teeth but sharp edges in their mouth that help them to hold their prey firmly and tear off the sea plants. They can submerge to 1,280 meters and remain under water for 85 minutes. They measure from 1.80 meters to 2.2 meters long, and their weight varies within a range of 250 to 700 kg, although extremely impressive specimens found, measured up to three meters in length and had a weight of 916 kilos. It does not have a rigid shell as the other sea turtles, but a cover of skin and fat. This turtle has large front flippers which have a record of 2.7 meters long in the largest individual seen. Instead, it has a 1.5 inches thick tissue which creates a carapace of skin and fat with seven clear divisions made by five vertical ridges along it. The leatherback sea turtle does not have a hard shell like the other six species. Its skin and shell are black or dark gray with white spots scattered all over its body from the head to the rear flippers. It is also called lute turtle or leathery turtle. It is the largest known sea turtle species and is the fourth largest reptile in the world, only after three species of crocodiles. Leatherback Sea Turtle – Dermochelys coriacea Description
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