The Leatherback Turtle

Common Name: Leatherback - named because its shell is made of a layer of thin, tough, rubbery skin that looks like leather.

Scientific Name: Dermochelys coriacea

Status: U.S. - Listed as Endangered (in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future) under the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act.
International - Listed as Critically Endangered (facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Range: Most widely distributed of all sea turtles. Found world wide with the largest north and south range of all the sea turtle species.

Size: 4 to10 feet in carapace length.

Weight: 450 to 2,000 pounds.

Characteristics: Head has a deeply notched upper jaw with 2 cusps. Carapace is large, elongated and flexible with 7 distinct ridges running the length of the animal. Composed of a layer of thin, tough, rubbery skin, strengthened by thousands of tiny bone plates, the carapace does not have scales, except in hatchlings. All flippers are without claws. The carapace is dark grey or black with white or pale spots, whiel the the plastron is whitish to black and marked by 5 ridges. Hatchlings have white blotches on carapace.

Habitat: Primarily found in the open ocean, as far north as Alaska and as far south as the southern tip of Africa. Known to be active in water below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the only reptile known to remain active at such a low temperature.

Diet: Have delicate, scissor-like jaws that would be damaged by anything other than a diet of - ied animals. Feed almost exclusively on jellyfish.

Nesting: Nest at intervals of 2 to 3 years. Nests between 6 to 9 times per season. Lays an average of 80 fertilized eggs and 30 smaller, unfertilized eggs in each nest. Eggs incubate for about 65 days.

Population Estimate*: 34,000 nesting females.

* Please understand that world wide population numbers for sea turtle species do not exist and that these are estimates of the number of nesting females based on nesting beach monitoring reports and publications from the early to mid 1990s.