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Leatherback Sea Turtles

Blogger | Jan 23, 2010 |

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Leatherback sea turtles are the biggest living reptiles in the world and also the heaviest member of the turtle family with fully grown adults weighing in at a whopping 900 KG and measuring two meters in length. This turtle has an hard bony shell which no other members of the sea turtle family has. Leatherback turtles have a life span of around 45 years, but a lot of the time this is cut short due to fishing nets and lines.

Leatherback sea turtles have been around for a very long time and it is estimated that they have been around for many millions of years. They have pink and white spots on the tops of their heads with the black leatherblack turtle being the largest of the sea turtle family. The front flippers are lacking in scales and claws with the back flippers being shaped like a paddle. The dorsal is black to dark grey in color with white blotches and spots scattered around it. Leatherbacks also have an extremely quick metabolism with its metabolism being 4 times faster than you would expect for a reptile its size. This reptile is also extremely fast and is the fastest living reptile that lives on the planet.

Leatherbacks love to move around and migrate and are found in almost every part of the world. Just some of the places that leatherback sea turtles like to live is the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, Norway and New Zealand to name just a few of the countries that you can spot this wonderful sea creature. This turtle loves to live in deep water, but you can also find them living in shallow offshore waters close to feeding grounds. They are also fantastic divers and can dive down up to depths of over 4 thousand feet, pretty impressive don't you think.

Leatherback sea turtles can live in water temperatures as low as 4.5 degrees c. Unfortunately over the past few decades there has been a sudden decline in their numbers. The cause of the decline is mainly down to lack of nesting habitats, people eating the turtle eggs because in some countries they are considered a delicacy. They are also consuming plastic debris in the sea because they are thinking that they are jelly fish. Leatherback sea turtles are now listed on the endangered species list and it is now illegal to harm or kill this wonderful sea turtle.