Name: Leatherback Sea Turtle (NMFS photo)

(Dermochelys coriacea)

Status: State Endangered (WA, OR), Federal Endangered

Listed: June 2, 1970 (Fed)

Description: Large sea-turtle with a spotted, leathery upper shell.

Threats: Habitat loss, commercial fishing, pollution, harvesting of eggs

Overview: The leatherback sea turtle is the world’s largest turtle, averaging about 5 to 6 feet in total length. It spends almost all of its life in the open ocean, feeding on jellyfish and other soft-bodied sea creatures. Because plastic bags, Styrofoam and other floating debris resemble these food sources, they are also consumed by leatherbacks, which causes digestive failure and is usually fatal. During the spring, females come ashore at night to breed and require an expanse of undisturbed, sandy beach in which to excavate a nest and lay her eggs. The attraction of this same type of environment for humans is causing some serious problems for the leatherback. Development of beachfront property worldwide is continuing to heavily impact nesting females, as well as her eggs and hatchlings. Increased foot and motor vehicle traffic causes direct egg and hatchling mortality and it compacts the sand, which greatly decreases the success of hatchlings attempting to emerge from the nest. Newly emerged turtles become disoriented by artificial illumination, and often head towards these brighter sources of light instead of the ocean. Other impacts of beachfront development include beach erosion, mechanical raking and disturbance of nesting females. Pacific leatherbacks are also facing a dramatic decline due to the over-harvesting of their eggs and flesh, and accidental take by fishing nets. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) started to enforce regulations in 1989 that require larger shrimp boats to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs), which are fitted at the mouth of shrimp nets to allow sea turtles to pass through the net. However, it has been determined that TEDs are largely ineffective for a turtle the size of an adult leatherback, and the NMFS has begun to set up Leatherback Conservation Areas that are off-limits to shrimp fleets during certain times of the year. Through extensive monitoring of nesting sites, it is currently estimated that about 20,000-30,000 female leatherbacks exist worldwide. Conservation strategies for leatherback sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean were outlined in a NMFS final recovery plan in 1992 and, in 1998, a final recovery plan was approved for the Pacific populations. The outline and goals of these plans are posted on the NMFS website @ http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR3/recovery.html.

Distribution: The leatherback turtle is widely distributed throughout the world’s oceans. Along the Pacific coast, leatherbacks nest from the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico, down to the coast of Ecuador. They migrate up to waters off the Washington and Oregon coast during the summer and fall in order to feed. There are no known nesting sites along the western United States coastline.

A park biologist at Lagunas de Chacahua National Park

in Oaxaca, Mexico takes Leatherback Sea Turtle eggs to incubate

then release as part of the park’s turtle recovery program.

Photo by Kirsten Harma

Links:

A species profile of the Leatherback Sea Turtle is available online at:

http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/species_profile.html?spcode=C00F

Last updated October 24, 2001

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