#leatherback turtles

[animalsesque]

who was going to tell me there was a turtle which grows up to 2 meters and 1300 pounds??

[petsincollections]

Giant leatherback turtle, New York Aquarium - Front

Back caption: Leatherback Turtle. Captured at Belmar, New Jersey. Weighed 840 pounds--the largest on record.

WCS Library, New York Aquarium Postcards

Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York

[zsl-edge-of-existence]

Unlike other sea turtles, the leatherback sea turtle does not have a bony carapace.  In place of the hard, rigid scutes found on other sea turtles, the leatherback’s shell is covered in thick, tough skin studded with miniscule osteoderms.  This leathery shell, which is flexible and strengthened by tiny bone plates, is the feature that gives the leatherback its name.  This shell also allows the leatherback to dive to extreme ocean depths, as the rubbery shell will compress under pressure rather than cracking.

[protectrightwhales]

Endangered Leatherback Turtle Killed by Plastic Pollution in Massachusetts

The death of this endangered leatherback turtle from a combination of entanglement and plastic ingestion is a brutal reminder of the threats that turtles and North Atlantic right whales that live in Cape Cod waters face on a daily basis. The article has more information on this turtle and a link to our Action page.

http://www.protectrightwhales.com/2018/11_10_leatherback_death

[azzaventura]

Leather Back Turtles tolerate colder water better than other marine turtles. A combination of large body size and excellent body insulation, enables them to maintain their temperature up to 18 degrees Celsius higher than that of surrounding water .

[zsl-edge-of-existence]

The leatherback turtle feeds almost exclusively on jellyfish, although it will sometimes eat other soft-bodied animals such as cephalopods.  Because leatherbacks devour so many jellyfish in a year, the turtles provide an important service by controlling jellyfish populations, including those of dangerous species such as box jellyfish.  The turtles will eat these highly venomous animals by devouring only their heads, avoiding the stinging tentacles.

Sadly, this has also been part of the reason for the leatherback’s decline.  Many animals will swallow plastic bags floating in the water, mistaking them for jellyfish.  These bags can block the turtle’s digestive tracts, resulting in a slow death.  Even if they do not die, the plastic can displace food in the turtle’s stomach, resulting in what is called nutrient dilution, which slow’s the animal’s development.

[zsl-edge-of-existence]

During the breeding season, a female leatherback turtle will return to a sandy beach in the same region where she was born.  At night, when the chances of predation are lowest, she will haul herself up onto the sand, dig a pit, and lay her eggs.  She may lay up to nine clutches of over one hundred eggs, with nine days passing in between the laying of each clutch.  

Nesting season is the only time adult leatherbacks will be found on the land, and the animals will consist only of females.  Once a male leatherback has entered the sea, he will never leave it.

[zsl-edge-of-existence]

Leatherback turtles travel enormous distances throughout their lives.  Pacific leatherbacks, for example, will travel almost 10,000 kilometres from their nesting sites in Indonesia to their feeding grounds near California.  Scientists tracked one turtle on an epic journey from the Jen Womom beach of Indonesia to the western coast of the United States, a total of over 20,000 kilometres over the course of 647 days.