
The Florida Leatherback Turtle Dermochelys
coriacea
Photo credit: NOAA
The Endangered Reptiles
of Florida
The Turtles of Florida
Endangered or Threatened Florida Sea Turtles
Endangered or Threatened Florida Freshwater Turtles
The Florida Leatherback Turtle
Dermochelys
coriacea
The Leatherback Turtle has been on the Earth for more than
one hundred million years and is the largest, fastest turtle
and largest reptile in the world.
This giant ranges up to six feet long
and can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.
These Sea Turtles are prolific travelers
and
migrate around the world.
Leatherbacks are unique in that they dive deeper
and swim farther than all other Sea Turtles.
They can also be quite fast swimmers at over 21 miles an hour,
but their average is a bit slower at .50 to nearly 3 miles an
hour.
According to FWC, the highest numbers of Leatherback nests in
Florida are in
Palm
Beach and Martin Counties with
1652
found statewide in 2011.
Habitat data on the Leatherback collected in 2011 by NMFS and FWS:
Critical Habitat
Data PDF
Please go see this
awesome page for
a great visual display of where they are in the world!
Thank you Dr. Kochevar

A Leatherback Turtle in Tobago covering her eggs
Photo credit: Paul Mannix
Leatherback Turtles are also in the Caribbean and
have found
a protector in
Suzanne Lakhan Baptiste of Trinidad
whose organization
Nature Seekers has
been saving countless turtle lives since
1990.
Leatherbacks Turtles are Endangered
and were placed on the (ESA) in
1970.
Their primary threats as with the other Sea Turtles
are
loss of nesting area and
accidental capture,
along with egg and adult poaching.

A Leatherback Hatchling
Photo credit: Betsy Straley/USFWS
A mother will lay about 100 eggs at a time, sadly,
only about one in a thousand will survive to adulthood.
The hatchlings are approximately 2-3 inches long.
This beneficial Reptile eats a diet primarily consisting
of the jellyfish that frequently sting us at the beach.
(See comments below*)
The down side of this positive benefit, is that a great deal
of
plastic is also consumed by them, mistaken for this favorite
food.
*A side note on the human
benefits of the Leatherback are that the
higher than usual numbers
of jellyfish coming ashore recently in Volusia County and
stinging visiting beach goers,
could be kept in check by the Leatherback, if there
were more of them!
Please see the You-Tube video:
Leatherback Feeding on Jellyfish
Places to learn more:
Earth Justice
Victory for Endangered Sea Turtles
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Leatherback Sea Turtles
MFWC Turtle Nesting:
Sea-turtles/nesting/leatherback
National Park Service
Canaveral
National SeaShore
Nature Seekers
NOAA
Leatherback
Leatherback Pictures
US Fish & Wildlife
FWS Leatherback Sea Turtle
Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts
Other places to learn:
Endangered Leatherback Turtles
Leatherback
Leatherback Sea Turtles
General Sea Turtle Information:
US Fish & Wildlife
Sea
Turtle Fast Facts
Sea
Turtle Information
Walking with the Alligators

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