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Leatherback | Breeding and Nesting | |||
| The females arrive at the beach on the night high tide. Leatherbacks are quick in the water but are extremely slow on land. The turtle slowly drags herself up the beach using her front flippers, When she finds a suitable place for a nest she uses her back flippers to dig the nest. The nesting hole is just over 1 meter deep. The eggs weigh just under 50 g and are around 10 centimeters. |  | ||
| To avoid not break as they fall down to the chamber, the eggs have a rubbery shell, which helps to keep them from breaking as they fall into the chamber on top of one another. | |||
 | A Leatherback sea turtle lay from 60 to 90 eggs. On top of these she lays several "dummy" eggs. It's not clear why she lays these, but some scientists think they allow oxygen to continue circulating around the fertile eggs by helping to prevent sand from falling between them. Once the eggs are laid she uses her body and flippers to cover the nest with sand. She then heads back to the sea on a low tide when the sea is calmest. | ||
| She then uses her front flippers to throw sand around to help disguise the body cavity and the nest before heading back to the ocean. Although her efforts to disguise the nest may be successful, she leaves an unmistakable trail leading from the nesting site with her body and front flippers as she returns to sea. | 1 2 3 | ||
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All about sea turtles | Sea Turtle
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Partner site: Collection of dog training books