| The leatherback sea turtle is the largest living reptile | | | | Sub-populations of leatherback sea turtles are known |
| in the world and heaviest in the turtle family. Growing | | | | to exist in Malaysia, on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, |
| up to 2 meters and weighing nearly 900 kilograms | | | | Africa, Caribbean, Canada, Newfoundland and |
| when both the male and female turtles are | | | | Labrador and also in many other unknown areas. |
| full-grown, the leatherback is the only sea turtle | | | | Leatherback sea turtles may thrive in deep water (in |
| without a hard bony shell. | | | | the open ocean) but are found in offshore waters |
| The leatherback sea turtle's life span is about 45 | | | | close to the land near feeding grounds. Scientists |
| years, sometimes cut short by fishing lines and nets. | | | | tracked a leatherback in search of food for nearly |
| The largest one, spotted near Wales, just short of a | | | | 13,000 miles in 647 days from Indonesia to the US. |
| large size crocodile was the world's fourth largest | | | | They can survive in cold waters with temperatures |
| reptile measuring over three meters and weighing | | | | as low as 4.5 degrees C (40.1 degrees F). |
| about 900 kilograms. | | | | Unfortunately, there has been a dramatic decline in |
| Leatherback sea turtles are known to have existed | | | | the population of leatherback sea turtles in the last |
| since sea turtles evolved 110 million years ago. | | | | three decades. Nesting female population is reported |
| With a pale white and pink spotting on the top of | | | | to be around 26,000 to 43,000 worldwide as only |
| the head, the black adult leatherback sea turtles are | | | | about one in a thousand leatherback sea turtles |
| larger than other sea turtles. Their front flippers lack | | | | survive until adulthood. While loss of nesting habitat |
| claws and scales and their back flippers are paddle | | | | and illegal egg harvesting are the cause of early |
| shaped. The lack of a bony carapace (but covered | | | | deaths for some, many leatherback sea turtles also |
| by thick leather type skin with very small bony | | | | perish by consuming plastic debris, mistaking them for |
| plates) distinguishes the leatherback from other sea | | | | their favorite jelly fish. |
| turtles. | | | | Exploitation of turtle nests in Asia have also |
| The leatherback sea turtle's dorsal surface cover has | | | | contributed to the decline in the leatherback sea |
| shades of dark grey to black scattered with white | | | | turtles population. Their eggs, considered a delicacy in |
| blotches and spots while its underside is pale colored. | | | | Malaysia and an aphrodisiac in parts of the Caribbean, |
| Leatherbacks are known as pelagic animals foraging in | | | | also contributed to their extinction. Significant declines |
| coastal waters. They love to migrate and are among | | | | were also reported in Mexico and Costa Rica. |
| the widest ranges of sea turtle species found in | | | | Harming or killing of leatherback sea turtles is now |
| every part of the world. From New Zealand, past the | | | | illegal. They are listed on the International Trade in |
| Cape of Good Hope to Norway and icy Alaska, | | | | Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. |
| leatherback turtles have a global presence. | | | | |