Leatherback Sea
Turtle
(Dermochelys
Coriacea) By Luka
Maro
Chapter 1
Appearance/
Locomotion
The leatherback sea turtle is rather quite unique
from the other type of sea turtles. With it’s leathery
type of shell it makes it pretty unique from the other
type of sea turtles because they have a bony shell.
It really different not only because of its leathery
shell but also because of its size. It’s huge it can
grow from 183cm-220cm as an adult. Despite its
size the Leatherback sea turtle can still go 1.8-10.1
kilometers an hour. Leatherbacks can dive not really
deep but up to 1280 meters. Leatherback sea http://upload.wikimedia.org/
turtles have sharp cusps on their mouths that are wikipedia/commons/4/42/
meant to grasp soft bodied invertebrates like Flickr_-_Rainbirder_-
jellyfish. _LEVIATHAN.jpg
Chapter 2
Diet
The Leatherback sea turtle is a carnivore as of most
of its kind. It eats mostly jellyfish that can also be
mistaken for a plastic bags. They also eat other soft
bodied invertebrates. It uses its cusps as the tip of
its mouth to grasp the animal its trying to eat. The
leatherback sea turtle is not only a carnivore but
also eats floating seaweed. They can also eat blue
and green algae. The Leatherback sea turtle are
opportunistic hunters which means that they don’t
hunt only if the food is on their course. This type of
sea turtle can travel 6,000km just to go to a good
place to feed.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Leatherback_sea_turtle_from_fli
ckr.jpg
Chapter 3
Habitat
Type to enter text
The Leatherback Sea Turtle can be found on
multiple places on the planet. They can be found in
all the oceans in the world which are the Indian,
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They can also be found
in one of the harshest environments like on the
Canadian and Norwegian coasts. The reason they
can survive in those places is because of their thick
layer of blubber and fat helps them keep warm.
They are even found in the south like in South
America and New Zealand. Surprisingly they can be
found in the Mediterranean sea.
http://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Leatherback_sea_turtle_o
n_the_beach_Tinglar_(58399
Chapter 4
Leatherback sea turtles are known to migrate a lot just to
Lifecycle/ feed and lay their eggs. Males are known to stay in the
ocean/sea for the rest of their lives as soon as they enter
the water. The main known life span for Leatherbacks is
Reproduction usually until 30 years.
The Leatherback sea turtle deposits different
amount of eggs at a time. It produces about 80
eggs per female. They are a pretty unique species
because they migrate up to 6,000km just to feed
and lay eggs. The females also return to the same
beach they hatched. And then they deposit up to 80
eggs and cover up the nest with sand so the
predators such as humans, birds and crabs. But
when the eggs hatch only about half of them
manage to make alive just to the water. Because
humans hunt their eggs either for food or for selling.
Don’t you sometimes wonder is the egg a male or a
female. Well the way to determine if it is a female is https://c2.staticflickr.com/
that you look at the temperature. If it is higher than 4/3784/10629570803_92f7ed
29.5 Celsius then it is likely to be a female. But if it 1971_b.jpg
is lower than 29.5 then it is likely to be a male.
Chapter 5
Strategies/
Adaptations
Leatherback sea turtles are known to be found in
one of the most harshest environments and even in
the tropical regions. Their thick layer of fat helps
them keep warm. Also their moving blood flow
helps them to keep on moving in the harsh cold
environments. They are one of the animals that can
migrate for a long time. One of them was recorded
to migrate from Indonesia to the USA in 647 days.
That was a journey which was about 20,000km.
They also have to adapt to not mistaking plastic http://upload.wikimedia.org/
bags for jellyfish because you can sometimes find wikipedia/commons/b/b3/
like 5kg of plastic in their stomachs. Leatherback_sea_turtle_on_t
he_beach_Tinglar_(58399964
Chapter 6
Human
Threat
Humans are a big threat to Leatherback Sea Turtles.
But not only them the whole species of Sea Turtles.
They are a threat because you can find so much kg
of plastic bags in their stomachs. The reason their is
so much is because they mistake that for their
favorite meal, jellyfish. But that is not the only threat
because humans also hunt their eggs for food but
mostly for marketing. They are worth a lot because
they are so hard to find. Experts say that 1 in a
1,000 hatchlings make it to adulthood. Statistics say
that many of the sea turtles die from malabsorption
and intestinal blockage. Malabsorption means that
when the food nutrients aren’t very good and it
damages your stomach. Intestinal blockage is when http://upload.wikimedia.org/
your intestines get blocked and nothing can get wikipedia/commons/9/9f/
through such as urine and poo. Leatherbacks get all Plastic_bag_jellyfish.JPG
that from plastic bags.
Chapter 7
Effects Of
Threat
The number of Leatherback sea turtles in the world
is quickly depleting. You can tell that from how
many die from plastic bags. Or are caught in nets
which is really terrible because they are really
important to some bugs. If they die naturally and
then their body is washed ashore. The bugs come
and use its body nutrients and eat it. And those
bugs are important the environment so if they don’t
get the nutrients from the turtle then they die. It’s
body is also important to plants. It helps them grow
strong and fast.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/5/50/
Turtle_entangled_in_marine_d
ebris_(ghost_net).jpg
Chapter 8
Solutions
There are multiple solutions to keep Leatherbacks
from going extinct. For example you can keep
boundaries around their nesting grounds so that
hunters know where to keep back. There are even
companies that are all about keeping sea turtles
safe such as http://www.seaturtle.org they keep
track of sea turtles and the way they do that is by
putting GPS in/on them. Then they keep track of
how many there are and where they go. There are
even small ways of where even you can help. You
can tell people not to throw plastic bags in the
ocean and not do it yourself. Even if you find a
plastic bag in the ocean you take and take it out to
throw it in a trash can.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/2/23/
Loggerhead_nesting_area.jpg
Chapter 9
• Leatherbacks can survive in harsh environments such as
Its
Canada and Norway
• They can weigh from 250-700kg as an adult
• They can be as long as 183cm-220cm as an adult
Interesting • It is estimated that 1 in a 1,000 hatchlings grow to
adulthood
• A Leatherback Sea Turtle once traveled from
Indonesia to the USA which took 647 days and a
was a journey around 20,000km
• Leatherbacks forage for food on the west coast
which uses up to 19 billion plastic bags a year
• Pacific Leatherback turtles usually migrate around
9,700km
• They come to lay eggs at the same place they
hatched
• Males spend the rest of their lives in water once
they enter http://www.public-domain-
image.com/fauna-animals-
• Leatherbacks can dive up to 1,280 meters public-domain-images-
underwater pictures/reptiles-and-
Chapter 10
Sites
"Information About Sea Turtles:Leatherback Sea
Turtle." Sea Turtle Conservancy. Sea Turtle
Conservancy, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
"Leatherback Sea Turtle." Leatherback Sea Turtle.
Center for Biological, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
"Leatherback Sea Turtles, Leatherback Sea Turtle
Pictures, Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts - National
Geographic." National Geographic. National
Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
"Leatherback Sea Turtle." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
"Sea Turtle Diet." SEE Turtles. Oceanic Society, n.d. File:Look_ma,_I_can_fly!
Web. 20 Jan. 2015. _(183138247).jpg
