The largest living sea turtle known is the Leatherback. This gentle, gigantic turtle can grow up to 9 feet in length (the length of its upper shell, or "carapace") and can weigh upwards of 2,000 pounds. It is called "Leatherback" because it has a leather-like skin all over its body. Embedded in the skin are small bones, which help to protect it from predators. The turtle's outer skin is black or bluish black in color, and usually has white or pink spots on it with seven ridges on its back. The bottom of the shell, or "plastron", is often whitish with five ridges. Like other sea turtles, a Leatherback cannot draw its head into its body. Its head is large, and its neck is short and thick. The front flippers are larger than the back ones, and work as paddles- helping the turtle swim long distances.
Leatherbacks can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They seldom leave the water except to mate. Leatherbacks will mate just offshore near warm, tropical beaches. The female will wait until dark to climb onto the beach and lay her eggs. She may lay up to 150 eggs at a time. Only a few of these will make it to adulthood. Predators, such as seabirds, may eat the hatchlings before they make it from the nest to sea. Once there, the hatchlings may become prey for sharks or large fish. There are other threats to the Leatherback population as well. For more information on that, visit this website:
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endan...
At present, approximately 30,000 leatherbacks exist in the wild. That may seem like a lot of turtles to you, and it is a large number, but in 1980 there were 115,000 Leatherbacks in the oceans. Pacific Leatherbacks are really down in numbers from 91,000 in 1980 to 3,000 currently. This labels the Giant Pacific Leatherback as a "critically endangered" species, facing extinction. There are many organizations working to keep the Leatherback from extinction. If you are interested in more information on their efforts, click on the links below:
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