Leatherback Sea Turtle 

Description of the Habitat

• Lives in ocean 

• Their diet consists primarily of algae, seagrasses, and seaweed. Greens have a finely serrated (sawlike) beak that allows them to scrape algae off rocks and tear grasses and seaweeds.

• Any sea animals that are in the ocean

• Leatherbacks have the ability to maintain their body temperature at a slightly higher temperature than the surrounding water. This feature allows these turtles to range as far north as Greenland where water temperature range from 30-40 degrees.

• Where They Live. Leatherbacks occur in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Nesting beaches are primarily located in tropical latitudes around the world. Globally, the largest remaining nesting aggregations are found in Trinidad and Tobago, West-Indies 

Distribution

• Mainly in trinidad and the west indies 

• No very endangered 

Diet

Leatherback: Leatherback turtles are often known as gelatinivores, meaning they only eat invertebrates such as jellyfish and sea squirts. Flatback: This species will eat everything from seaweed to shrimp and crabs

• Heaslip estimated that during the summer months, the turtles eat around 73 per cent of their own body weight every day, packing in around 16,000 calories. That's around 3 to 7 times more than they actually need to survive.

• They have downward curving spines (also known as papillae) in their mouth and throat which help them to capture and swallow their prey

• Their diet consists primarily of crabs, mollusks, shrimps, jellyfish, and vegetation. Leatherbacks have delicate scissor-like jaws that would be damaged by anything other than their normal diet of jellyfish, tunicates, and other soft-bodied animals

Social Structure

• Sea turtles are generally solitary creatures that remain submerged for much of the time they are at sea, which makes them extremely difficult to study. They rarely interact with one another outside of courtship and mating. Ridleys, however, do come together in massive groups during nesting

• They don't always travel in groups 

• The leatherback prefers the open ocean and moves into coastal waters only during the reproductive season. Although small groups may move into coastal waters following concentrations of jellyfish, these turtles seldom travel in large groups

• Don't really travel together

• Various visual and physical signals (like touching) allow female and male green sea turtles to understand each other during courtship. Squirting water and blinking have also been used by turtles to communicate with each other, as well. A unique communication method utilized by turtles is biting.

Reproduction

• Every 2-4 years

• Sea turtles are known to have multiple mates, yet there is no consensus on why they do. It is believed that female sea turtles may mate multiply to ensure fertilization, which will result in multiple paternity within their nests, providing "fertilization insurance," so to speak.

• Leatherback nesting in Florida occurs primarily from March through July. A female typically nests at intervals of two to three years, depositing multiple nests per season.

• The male's long tail holds the female and fertilizes the eggs while claws on his front flippers give

• Around 110 eggs a lot die and don't make it past the first few days 

Development

• Once the eggs hatch, they're on their own—the baby sea turtles must make it into the water and learn to fend for themselves without any care from their parents. Leatherbacks reach maturity at approximately 16 years old. Their average lifespan is unknown, but it's thought to be at least 30 years.

• Maturity may range from as early as 7 to 13 years for leatherbacks, 11 to 16 years for both species of ridleys, 20 to 25 years in hawksbills, 25 to 35 years for loggerheads and 26 to 40 years in green sea turtles.

• Like other sea turtle species, leatherbacks face significant threats from bycatch in fisheries (e.g., entanglement and/or hooking), illegal collection of eggs and killing of adult turtles, coastal development, pollution, marine debris, and climate change.

Causes of death

• Adult sea turtles have few natural predators. A natural predator for a full-grown leatherback might be large sharks. However, hatchlings and juvenile sea turtles are prey for feral dogs and cats, marine birds, crabs, fish, and other predators.

• Not really any sexual competition 

• Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating disease that affects sea turtles in Florida and many other parts of the world. Turtles with FP have external tumors that may grow so large and hanging as to hamper swimming, vision, feeding, and potential escape from predators.

Competition

• None 

• Crabs, raccoons, boars, birds, fish and sharks all play their role in the natural food chain. However, urban development along coast lines has introduced many non-native species that have become invasive predators for sea turtles and other coastal wildlife.

• Around the globe, sea turtles and hatchlings alike are victim to natural predators. Crabs, raccoons, boars, birds, fish and sharks all play their role in the natural food chain.

IUCN Rating

Globally, leatherback status according to IUCN is listed as Vulnerable, but many subpopulations (such as in the Pacific and Southwest Atlantic) are Critically Endangered.

• The leatherback sea turtle is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is estimated that the global population has declined 40 percent over the past three generations. ... Over the last three generations, nesting in this region has declined by over 90 percent.

Impact of Humans

Over the last 200 years, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners. Slaughtered for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells, sea turtles suffer from poaching and over-exploitation. They also face habitat destruction and accidental capture—known as bycatch—in fishing gear.

• Coastal development and rising seas from climate change are leading to the loss of nesting beach habitat for leatherback turtles. Human-related changes associated with coastal development include beachfront lighting, shoreline armoring, and beach driving.

• Around 200 years 

• The major recovery actions for leatherback turtles include: Protecting sea turtles on nesting beaches and in marine environments. Protecting nesting and foraging habitats. Reducing bycatch in commercial, artisanal, and recreational fisheries.