SAVE THE LEATHERBACK!!!!
From extinction
adult leatherback turtle
baby leatherback turtle
leatherback turtle egg
facts about leatherback
The largest of the sea turtles, the leatherback can reach over 1.8 m (6 ft) in length and 680 kg (1,500 lb) in weight. During their long migrations, leatherbacks regularly dive to depths greater than 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in search of gelatinous zooplankton to eat. The leatherback is rapidly declining in many areas of the world.
Leatherback Turtle (Best footage EVER recorded on beach in daylight). Very rare!
threats against leatherback
Threats
Coastal habitat loss, commercial fishing (caught in drift nets), egg poaching
Coastal habitat loss, commercial fishing (caught in drift nets), egg poaching
why they matter
100,000 females worldwide, males unknown.
- Any leatherback that survives to adulthood has overcome enormous odds. Females may lay more than 100 eggs in a nest, but many of these are eaten by predators (including humans) before they hatch. Of the hatchlings that do make it out of the nest, the vast majority are eaten by predators (primarily gulls and other birds) on the beach or in the ocean. A nest of 100 eggs will probably produce no more than one or two adults.
conservation of the leatherback turtles
the leatherback turtles are decreasing in numbers.