The Leatherback Sea Turtle | Habitat & Distribution

Leatherbacks are pelagic reptiles, meaning that they live in top aquatic layers that are away from shore. But they have been known to hunt in coastal regions too. Leatherbacks are the regarded as the most constant migratory turtles in the world. They are found most commonly in oceans, scientists once trailed a Leatherback sea turtle that swam all the way from Indonesia to United States, covering a staggering 20,000 kilometers in a travel that lasted around 647 days. They also have the widest range in distance spread amongst all sea turtles. The reason for them being the widest is their bodily characteristic, which allows them to apart to temperate waters easily. Large body, High amount of oil and heat transferring system allows them to cope with a body temperature which is greater than the water around them; this means Leatherbacks can easily survive cold water temperatures. They are known to swim great distances to find food and other suitability.

Leatherbacks have front flippers of a large size which allow them to swim briskly through the water. Their crest in made in such way that it cuts through the water, permitting them to be fast and efficient underwater. They are known to swim thousands of miles amid fast currents in open oceans. Leatherback sea turtles are known to be irate in captivity, with continuously pounding on the walls of water tanks holding them. This way they damage their frail skin. Leatherbacks prefer the open ocean more which contains the space to swim freely. As the Leatherback sea turtle spends most of its lifetime in open sea waters, very little is scientifically recorded about the hatchling when it leaves the nest.
Leatherback sea turtles are a species that is found all along the globe, this makes them the most widespread reptile in the world. Due to their characteristic of maintaining a warm body temperature in cold waters over a considerable duration of time, they are found more in Northern side of the planet. In Atlanta, Leatherback sea turtles are found on the coast of New England, mostly at Massachusetts and Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Long Island New York, Iceland, Europe, Spain and British Isles. An analysis from North to South would show leather back sea turtles found from Alaska to Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Leatherbacks favorite mating beaches are the ones which contain deep water; they somehow like to keep away from beaches which are covered by coral reefs. Leatherbacks tend to mate in places which are next to nesting beaches, female Leatherbacks migrate from hot tropical waters to cooler ones after nesting. The nesting beaches in Atlantic are Suriname and French Guiana. In Pacific Ocean the important sites are in Mexico, Indonesia and Costa Rice whereas the smaller beaches are found in Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Tracking through satellite has shown that their feeding areas are just offshore. The temperate or cooler water bears jelly fish in summer, which is the favorite prey for Leatherbacks. Jellyfish during the day time are found in deeper water which results in Leatherbacks lurking in deep water during that time, but as the night falls the jellyfish rise to shallower water and so do the Leatherback sea turtles. This sort of hunting routine makes Leatherbacks go into the frosty waters; one turtle was tracked hunting in water that had a temperature of 0.4 °C (32.7 °F) at the surface. In fact Leather back sea turtle is the only known reptile which remains active in 40 °F.

Leatherback sea turtles are an endangered species in some parts of the world with only 2300 adult females recorded in Pacific, therefore it is said that in Indo Pacific leather back turtles are critically endangered. But the story is not similar at every place; in Southern part of continent Africa after 30 odd years of protection has increased the annual nesting population four times. Recent surveys have shown that West Africa contains a significant population of 10,400 nests in one season. The total area Leatherbacks reside in is not known and there is neither a historical record. So there can be no accurate depiction of the nesting outcome of some populations. Encouraging nesting figures have been recorded in parts of North America as well.