• entanglement in fishing gear
• over-harvesting of eggs
• hunters who kill adults for meat and shells

A distinctive, unique species; the largest of all marine turtles, reaching 1,800 mm in carapace length, 2,770 mm between forelimb tips. Carapace and plastron leathery, without horny plates;carapace depressed, elongate, with 7 longitudinal ridges, posterior edge smooth, ending with a narrow, pointed extensioover the tail. Plastron with 5 longitudinal ridges. Head relatively small; upper jaw with two tooth-like projections. Front limbs very long, with no claws. Not much difference in size between sexes, but males have longer tails. Color of carapace and dorsal sides of limbs and head blackish or bluish black with irregular whitish spots. Ventral sides pinkish white with some dark spots.

Dermochelys coriacea is listed as Critically endangered on the Red list of Threatened animals 2000 and, therefore, considered to be of extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future. It is listed under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and is addressed under a marine turtles Species Action Plan. Dermochelys coriacia is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) 1975, Appendix II of the Bern Convention 1979, Appendices I and II of the Bonn Convention 1979 and Annex IV of the EC Habitats Directive. The loggerhead is also listed as a priority species on Annex II of the EC Habitats Directive. All five species are protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation (Natural Habitats & c.) Regulations 1994 (Anon, 1999(ii)).

Leatherbacks are primarily pelagic animals. They travel great distances from their nesting beaches to their feeding grounds. Although leatherbacks are most often found in tropical waters, they are distributed around the globe in temperate oceans, and even on edges of subarctic water. The leatherback sea turtle travels further north than any other sea turtle. They live in Northern Atlantic waters as far north as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Labrador. They also inhabit South Atlantic Waters, as far south as Argentina and South Africa. This turtle inhabits waters as far east as Britain and Norway.

During the nesting season they are discovered along the coasts of French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, Gabon, West Africa, Parque Marino Las Baulas in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Thailand, in the U.S. on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and in Puerto Rico and Florida. The largest nesting colony is in Africa, along the coast of French Guiana. More than 7,000 females laid as many as 50,000 eggs there in 1988 and again in 1992. There is one nesting record in Cape Lookout, North Carolina.

Biogeographic Regions: oceanic islands (Native ); indian ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )

Essentially a vagrant to Egyptian waters, not known to breed in or near Egypt. It has been recorded several times from Egyptian territory in both the Mediterranean and Red Sea. From the Mediterranean Flower (1933) reports a large individual from the Alexandria market, but was not sure of its capture locality. Baha El Din (1992) reports 3 dead animals found on the shore at Zaranik and El Arish. Clarke et al. (2000) reports a further dead individual found on the beach at Rafah in 1998. In the Red Sea Werner (1973) reports the species from Nuweiba and south of Abu Rudeis. Frazier and Salas (1984) report 2 old specimens found in the vicinity of Hurghada, which were in the Hurghada Marine Biological Station in the early 1980s.

Circum-global, more readily entering colder waters than any other marine turtle. Although this species largely nests within the trop¬ics, it ranges widely into subtropical and temperate waters, even reaching the Arctic Circle.

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) This circumglobal species generally forages in temperate waters and nests in tropical and subtropical latitudes on beaches of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Leatherbacks appear to spend the first portion of their lives entirely in tropical waters; those less than 100 cm in carapace length occur only in waters warmer than 26°C, whereas adults may venture to high latitude waters in summer (e.g., see Goff and Lien 1988, Eckert 2002) and occur occasionally in inshore waters.

Significant nesting areas include Malaysia (at least formerly), Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America, and Atlantic shore of northern South America. Largest population worldwide is in the western Atlantic (Spotila et al. 1996). In the Western Hemisphere, nesting also occurs in Florida (very rarely north to Georgia), along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, in the West Indies, and along the Atlantic shore of Central America and the Pacific shore of northern South America. In the western Caribbean, nesting is frequent from northern Costa Rica to Colombia and in eastern French Guiana and western Surinam. Some nesting occurs along the central Brazilian coast; important colonies are in northwestern Guyana and in Trinidad. In the Antilles, most nesting occurs in the Dominican Republic and on islands close to Puerto Rico, including Culebra and St. Croix (the largest, best-studied population in U.S. waters).

A general aggregation of leatherbacks is known to occur in the Pacific north of the Hawaiian Islands year-round, and in the Atlantic seasonal concentrations occur during the summer and fall months in the northeastern United States and Canada in areas such as Cape Cod Bay, the Gulf of Maine, the Scotian Shelf, and Cape Breton.

The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of living turtles. It may reach a length of ca. 2.13 m. Adults may have a span of ca. 2.7 m from the tip of one front flipper to the tip of the other. They have a secondary palate, formed by vomer and palatine bones. The leatherback has no visible shell. The shell is present but it consists of bones that are buried into its dark brown or black skin. It has seven pronounced ridges in its back and five on the underside. Leatherback hatchlings look mostly black when looking down on them, and their flippers are margined in white. Rows of white scales give hatchling leatherbacks the white striping that runs down the length of their backs.

These turtles feed in waters that are far colder than other sea turtles can tolerate. They have a network of blood vessels that work as a counter-current heat exchanger, a thick insulating layer of oils and fats in their skin, and are able to maintain body temperatures much higher than their surroundings.

Range mass: 250 to 900 kg.

Range length: 145 to 160 cm.

Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: female larger

Length: 178 cm

Weight: 544000 grams

No other sea turtle lacks scutes on the shell or has prominent dorsal longitudinal ridges.

• Terrestrial
• Marine

Leatherback sea turtles live in many different oceans throughout the world. They are widely known as pelagic animals but are seen in coastal waters when searching for food. They live in tropical, temperate and even some subarctic oceans. They have been discovered in waters as deep as 1230 m, well below the photic zone.

Leatherbacks lay their eggs in the sand of tropical beaches. It is the only time they emerge onto land, and only the females do so.

Range depth: 1230 (high) m.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; saltwater or marine

Aquatic Biomes: pelagic ; coastal

Other Habitat Features: intertidal or littoral

Highly pelagic, spending much of its life far off­shore, but often also close to shore.

Comments: Marine; open ocean, often near edge of continental shelf; also seas, gulfs, bays, and estuaries. Mainly pelagic, seldom approaching land except for nesting (Eckert 1992). Concentrates in summer in waters mostly 20-40 m deep near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Dives almost continuously, to depths of up to at least several thousand meters; may linger at the surface at midday but spends most of time submerged.

Nests on sloping sandy beaches backed up by vegetation, often near deep water and rough seas. Largest colonies use continental, rather than insular, beaches (CSTC 1990). Absence of a fringing reef appears to be important. Deposits eggs in moist sand. Individuals sometimes change to different nesting beach between nestings during a single year; changed to sites 30-110 km away in West Indies (Eckert et al. 1989; see also Keinath and Musick 1993). May rapidly occupy newly formed nesting habitat (Pritchard 1992).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Moves hundreds or thousands of kilometers between nesting beaches and distant marine waters; transequatorial migrations have been documented. Pattern of epibiont colonization in Caribbean suggests that gravid turtles do not arrive from temperate latitudes until just prior to nesting, and that they go directly to a preferred nesting beach; nesters apparently arrive asynchronously (Eckert and Eckert 1988). Individual females may nest on multiple islands within a region; a female that nested on St. Croix, Virgin Islands, during the next 18 days, nested also on Isla Vieques and Isla Culebra (Keinath and Musick 1993); see also Boulon et al. (1996). Caribbean nesters apparently move north along Atlantic coast after nesting (appear at least as far north as the northeastern U.S. in late summer; Boulon et al. 1988). A leatherback tagged in Chesapeake Bay in late May 1985 was captured off southern Cuba in late July 1986 (Keinath and Musick 1990). Leatherbacks from nesting areas in Suriname and Costa Rica (Caribbean coast) were found in summer off Nova Scotia (James 2004).

Morreale et al. (1996) documented a migration corridor extending from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica through the vicinity of the Galapagos Islands.

A nesting female tagged in Suriname was captured off Ghana, West Africa, less than 1 year later (Eckert 1992).

Leatherback turtles are carnivores that feed in the open ocean. Their main prey are gelatinous invertebrates, mainly jellyfish and salps. They are known to eat other kinds of food though, including small crustaceans and fish (possibly symbiotes with jellies), cephalopods, sea urchins, and snails.

Leatherbacks do not have the powerful muscles and hard crushing jaw apparatus that some other sea turtles have for eat hard-shelled prey. Instead they have sharp-edged jaws for biting soft-bodied prey. The esophagus in this species is lined with short spines that point downstream, preventing jellies from escaping once swallowed.

Animal Foods: fish; mollusks; aquatic or marine worms; aquatic crustaceans; echinoderms; cnidarians; zooplankton

Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats other marine invertebrates)

Comments: Principal food is jellyfish, though other invertebrates, fishes, and seaweed sometimes are eaten. Pelagic foraging may focus on jellyfish in the deep scattering layer (Eckert 1992).

Leatherback sea turtles are predators that eat mainly jellyfish and other soft-bodied marine animals. Their affect on prey population densities is unknown, but might have been substantial before their populations were reduced by harvesting.

Leatherback eggs and hatchlings may be a significant food source for egg predator populations near their nesting beaches.

Leatherbacks are the host of Conchoderma virgatum, a commensal species of barnacle.

Commensal/Parasitic Species:

• Conchoderma virgatum

In modern times, humans have become the primary predator of this species, gathering eggs and killing adults.

Leatherback turtles eggs are consumed by a large variety of predators, including ghost crabs (Ocypode), monitor lizards (Varanus), wading birds such as turnstones (Arenaria), knots (Calidris), and plovers Pluvialis). Many mammals excavate nests as well, including raccoons (Procyon lotor) and coatis (Nasua), dogs (Canis), genets (Genetta), mongooses (Herpestidae) and pigs (Suidae). Most of these same predators will take hatchlings as the little turtles race for the sea, as will raptors (Falconiformes), gulls (Larus), and frigate birds (Fregatidae). In the ocean, small leatherbacks are attacked by cephalopods, requiem sharks (Carcharhinidae) and other large fish. Adult leatherbacks are large and powerful enough to have few predators, but jaguars (Panthera onca) and other large predators may attack nesting females, and killer whales (Orcinus orca) and large sharks may attack them at sea.

Nesting females pack the sand over their clutch of eggs, perhaps to obscure the scent of the eggs and make them harder for small predators to dig up. Hatchlings wait until nightfall to emerge and head for the water, to avoid predators. Throughout their lives leatherbacks are counter-shaded, dark on the dorsal surface and light underneath, to better blend with background light (though the dark dorsal surface is probably also better for basking).

Although they don't have the bony shell of most turtles, they do have a thick layer of connective tissue over bony plates covering much most of their body. Leatherbacks are strong and fast swimmers, and adults may defend themselves aggressively. One adult (c. 1.5 m long) was seen chasing a shark that had apparently attacked it, and once the shark fled, the turtle attacked the boat that the observers were in.

Known Predators:

• ghost crabs (Ocypode)
• monitor lizards (Varanus)
• turnstones (Arenaria)
• knots (Calidris)
• plovers Pluvialis)
• raccoons (Procyon lotor)
• coatis (Nasua)
• genets (Genetta)
• dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)
• mongooses (Herpestidae)
• pigs (Sus)
• cephalopods (Cephalopoda)
• requiem sharks (Carcharhinidae)
• killer whales (Orcinus orca)
• frigate birds (Fregatidae)
• vultures and hawks (Falconiformes)

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 21 - 80

Comments: This species is represented by a large number of nesting occurrences, but few of them have more than a few hundred nesting females (Spotila et al. 1996, UNEP 2003).

10,000 - 1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Pritchard (1982) estimated 115,000 breeding females worldwide, though his estimates may have been too high, especially for Mexico. Estimated world population in the early 1990s was reported as 136,000 breeding females by Pritchard (1992). In contrast, Spotila et al. (1996) estimated the worldwide population of nesting females at 26,200-42,000, with the majority of animals occurring in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea where the population was estimated at 27,608. An estimated 100-900 leatherbacks occur in summer in waters off the northeastern U.S. (Shoop and Kenney 1992). See Cook (1981) for information on status in Canada.

Spotila et al. (2000) estimated total adult (breeding) population at 1,690 females in the eastern Pacific (down from an estimated 4,600-6,500 in 1996) and concluded leatherbacks are on the verge of extinction in the Pacific. Another estimate suggested a total of 2,300 adult females in the entire Pacific (Crowder 2000).

In Florida, between 1988 and 1992, annual reported leatherback nests varied between 98 and 188 (USFWS 1998). In the 1980s and early 1990s, about 18-55 females nested each year on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands (Boulon et al. 1996); increased to 100+ in 1997. In 1997, more than 80 females nested at Culebra Island, Puerto Rico.

Nest counts at the largest nesting colony in Mexico reported less than 250 in 1998-1999 (Eckert unpubl. results in Spotila et al. 2000). Spotila et al. (2000) predicted that without protection the population breeding at Playa Grande, Costa Rica (once the 4th largest nesting colony in the world), would be reduced to around 50 nesting females by 2003-2004.

In the mid-1990s, few beaches had more than a few hundred nesting females (Spotila et al. 1996). Only four nesting areas presently support more than 1,000 breeding females: the Pacific coast of Mexico probably fewer than 5,000 though formerly many more; Pacific coast of French Guiana, 4,500-6,500; peninsular Malaysia, 1,000-2,000; and the Kepala Burung region of Indonesia (UNEP 2003).

Eggs and hatchlings incur high rates of mortality from predation; humans are significant egg predators. Adults often die from drowning in commercial fishing nets and from eating floating debris, especially plastic. In Malaysia, egg survivorship (to hatching) was 0.63 (see Iverson 1991).

Feeds largely on jellyfish and is capable of making dives as deep as 1,000 m below sea surface.

Hatching success of clutches is about 50% in an undisturbed nest. Many nests are destroyed by many different predators. Nest temperature determines the hatchlings' sex. At 29.5 degrees Celsius hatchlings are equally likely to be male or female, hatchlings incubated at 28.75°C or less will be male, above 29.75°C they'll be female. Hatchling turtles weigh 35-50 grams, and grow very fast. Leatherbacks may be the fastest growing reptile in the world, reaching adult size in 7 - 13 years.

Development - Life Cycle: temperature sex determination

We have no information on the lifespan of Dermochelys coriacea.

Average lifespan

Status: captivity: 30 years.

The male leatherback turtles will migrate just offshore a common nesting beach generally before nesting season begins. There they will try and mate with as many females as possible. Also, studies have shown that the males will return to the same nesting beach if they were successful in the previous season.

Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Leatherback sea turtles mate in the water, just offshore from the females' desired nesting beach. The female then swims ashore at night to nest and will produce a clutch of usually 50 - 170 eggs. However, a large percentage of those eggs are yolkless and will not develop further. The female will lay her eggs and then cover the nest with sand to discourage predation and moderate the temperature and humidity around the eggs. After the female has completed this process she will returns to the ocean. Male leatherback sea turtles never swim to shore and have no part in the nesting process.

Breeding interval: Leatherback Sea Turtles will lay about 5 to 7 nests per year, renesting every 9 to 10 days. Also, they will return to the same nesting location every 2 to 3 years.

Breeding season: They generally reproduce between the months of April and November.

Range number of offspring: 50 to 70.

Range gestation period: 55 to 75 days.

Average time to independence: immediate (no parental investment past egg-laying) minutes.

Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 5 to 21 years.

Key Reproductive Features: semelparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; oviparous

Average number of offspring: 105.

The only parental investment that occurs with leatherback sea turtles is when the female lays eggs on the shore and covers her nest after laying the eggs. No subsequent parental care occurs.

Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female)

Lays up to 10+ (average 5 in Virgin Islands, 5-7 in Puerto Rico) clutches of 50-170 eggs (typically 70-90 normal eggs in the Atlantic, usually fewer than 60 in the eastern Pacific) at intervals of about 1-2 weeks; most individuals nest every 2-3 years. Nests at night, March-August in Western Hemisphere. Eggs hatch in 8-10 weeks. Reportedly sexually mature in 6-10 years, or possibly less, or perhaps 20-50 years; females in the Atlantic mature at a carapace length of 137-145 cm, Pacific females mature at slightly smaller size (Eckert 1992). Zug and Parham (1996) conducted a skeletochronological analysis and concluded that "for conservation management purposes, 9 years is a likely minimum age for maturity based on the youngest adult in the sample." Limited data indicate a post-maturation longevity of up to about two decades (Pritchard 1996).

The vascular lining in the trachea of adult leatherback sea turtles helps them maintain body temperature while foraging in cold water via counter-current exchange.

The trachea of adult leatherback sea turtles enables deep dives via a compressible cartilaginous structure.

This species is believed to be in serious decline. Populations of nesting females in the Pacific have declined as much as 70-80% in the last decade, and the status of the Atlantic population is unclear. Because females may nest on more than one beach each year, accurate counts are more difficult than for some other turtle species. The species is rated "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN, and "Endangered" by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It has been listed in Appendix I of the CITES, making any international trade illegal.

The primary threat to the species is commercial fishing: turtles accidentally trapped and drowned in nets and trawls, or hooked or tangled by longlines and trap lines. Harvesting of eggs is a significant problem as well. Also, leatherbacks apparently sometimes eat plastic debris they find in the water, probably mistaking it for jellyfish. This plastic debris is indigestible, and an increasing number of turtles are found dead with blocked digestive tracts.

Nature reserves have been established in the coastal areas where the turtles come to breed to prevent people from stealing the eggs. In some areas, scientists have taken the eggs into captive breeding programs to try to increase the population of the area. Some governments require use of turtle-exclusion devices on fishing gear, but this is not a widespread practice.

In July of 2004, the “Marine Turtle Conservation Act” was signed into law in the United States. The purpose of this bill was to aid in the conservation of marine turtles, as well as to assist foreign countries in preserving their nesting habitats. To support this bill there are hopes of creating a “Multinational Species Conservation Fund” to support conservation of imperiled marine turtles, including the leatherback.

US Federal List: endangered

CITES: appendix i

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered

Critically Endangered

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N1 - Critically Imperiled

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N2B - Imperiled

Rounded Global Status Rank: G2 - Imperiled

Reasons: Oceanic distribution is nearly worldwide, but the number of nesting sites is few; many nesting areas have few breeding females and suffer from some human predation; range and number of occurrences have undergone reduction; recent severe population declines at some nesting locations.

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Highly vulnerable

Environmental Specificity: Very narrow to narrow.

Other Considerations: Individuals may move hundreds to thousands of kilometers between nesting beaches and distant marine waters; this increases vulnerability to incidental take.

• females are monitored by tagging
• reproductive data is straight-forward to acquire and is collected at many nesting sites
• on beaches where poaching is commonplace, eggs are sometimes removed from their original nests and re-buried in hatcheries where they are protected until they are ready to be released into the sea

Degree of Threat: A : Very threatened throughout its range communities directly exploited or their composition and structure irreversibly threatened by man-made forces, including exotic species

Comments: Major threats include egg collecting and mortality associated with bycatch in longline, trawl, and gillnet fisheries throughout the range (Spotila et al. 2000, Ferraroli et al. 2004, Lewison et al. 2004). Other concerns include harvest of adult females at nest beaches for meat and oil, nesting habitat loss, pollution, and adult ingestion of floating plastics and trash (Lewison et al. 2004).

Egg harvesting: Most nest beaches are now protected in Mexico and in other parts of range, but egg exploitation continues. A long history of egg collection contributed to population declines in Malaysia (Chan and Liew 1996). In the 1980s, cash value of leatherback eggs was still so high that the Trengganu Fisheries Department could only afford to buy back a small percentage of harvested eggs for incubation and release (Pritchard 1982).

Fisheries bycatch: Leatherback are especially threatened by longline swordfish and tuna fisheries of the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America, shrimp trawl fisheries, gillnet fisheries, and pot fisheries throughout the world. Even with the use of larger Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) developed to exclude leatherbacks, the U.S. offshore commercial shrimp fishery captures an estimated 640 each year (NOAA/NMFS 2005). Eckert and Sarti (1997) reported that "mortality associated with the swordfish gillnet fisheries in Peru and Chile represents the single largest source of mortality for East Pacific leatherbacks". Gillnet fisheries in these countries may kill an estimated 2,000 leatherbacks annually (this estimate does not include animals taken in the longline fishery; Eckert and Sarti 1997). During 2000, an estimated 20,000 leatherbacks were caught and 1,000-3,200 killed as bycatch in Pacific longline fisheries (Lewison et al. 2004). The U.S. contribution to total pelagic longline bycatch is only around 2 percent of the global take, so most of the threat of capture exists outside the United States(Lewison et al. 2004). From 1978-1981, 126 turtles were reported captured in the Japanese tuna longline fishery in the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico, of which around 25 percent were leatherbacks (Spotila et al. 1996).

Other threats: Adults historically were taken for meat and oil on nest beaches, and poaching still occurs in some locations. Erosion, development, and disturbance of nest beaches threatens nest success and reduces available nesting habitat (Pritchard 1982, NOAA/NMFS 2005). Where space is limited, females have been observed constructing nests on occupied sites and destroying eggs already present. Nesting beaches throughout their range are subject to human-related impacts including: coastal development, beach armoring, dredging, and beachfront lighting. Ingestion of floating plastic trash mistaken for jellyfish is often fatal to leatherbacks; vessel dumping of discarded fishing gear and petroleum products is also of concern (Bolten and Bjorndal 1992, NOAA/NMFS 2005).

Climate change is likely to affect Leatherback Turtles in at least three important ways (IUCN 2009):

(1) Increasing feminization:
Average global temperatures are predicted to increase by at least 2°C in the next 40 years due to climate change. This temperature increase could have serious consequences for Leatherbacks, as well as for other species whose sex is determined by embryonic temperature. The predicted outcome of this change (barring significant adaptation of the sex determination system or nesting behavior) is an increase in the number of females relative to males in Leatherback populations, which could threaten the stability of these populations. Increases in temperature have also been shown to lead to hatchling abnormalities and developmental and other health problems in young Leatherbacks (IUCN 2009).

(2) Beach erosion:

Ocean levels are thought to have risen at an average rate of 1.8 mm per year since 1961 and are predicted to rise even more rapidly in the future. Increases in storm frequency and severity have also been predicted. This is likely to lead to increased beach erosion and degradation, which could wash away turtle nests and decrease nesting habitat in the longer term. While some climate change adaptation measures, such as sea walls, help mitigate sea level rise impacts on human populations, their increased construction is likely to further reduce the availability of Leatherbacks’ nesting habitat in the future (IUCN 2009).

(3) Dispersal and food availability:

Ocean currents are important for both juvenile and adult Leatherbacks. Juveniles use them to aid dispersal following hatching and adults use them as navigational aids. Thus, changes in currents could have a major impact on Leatherback populations. Altered currents are also likely to affect the abundance and distribution of jellyfish and other Leatherback prey species. Although climate change impacts on ocean currents are likely, the nature of these changes, and hence their effects on Leatherbacks, remains uncertain (IUCN 2009).

There is some hope that Leatherbacks may be able to adapt behaviorally to the changing climate. While females are known to return to the same region--and perhaps even nesting beach--to nest each year, Leatherbacks are nevertheless among the most flexible turtle species in their nest site choice. Over time, the Leatherback's flexibility may allow them to modify their nesting site choices to select more favorable areas (in fact, northward extensions of both nesting and feeding areas have already been noted for this species). For this to be possible, however, potentially suitable beaches need to be available in more favorable areas. Coastal developments and pressures from humans have already rendered many possible sites unsuitable, and increasing sea wall development and beach erosion are likely to further reduce beach availability.

As is the case for many other vulnerable species, the ability of the Leatherback to adapt to climate change may be challenged by other threats it faces, including active harvesting by humans, accidental capture by fisheries, coastal development, and mistaken consumption by Leatherbacks of plastic debris. Such ongoing threats are likely to make the Leatherback less resilient to
additional pressures such as climate change.

Management Requirements: Basic needs are to: monitor occurrences; enforce protective regulations; conduct educational programs regarding sea turtles, particularly in Mexico, South America, and Malaysia; enact beach lighting ordinances; keep traffic off beaches; remove nest predators (e.g., raccoons, canids, coatis) if needed.

Frazer (1992) emphasized the primary need for clean and productive marine and coastal environments; installation of turtle excluder devices in shrimp trawl nets and use of low pressure sodium lighting on beaches were suggested as appropriate sea turtle conservation technologies, whereas headstarting, captive breeding, and hatcheries were regarded as ineffective at best.

See NMFS (Federal Register, 19 December 1996, pp. 66933-66947) for recent amendments to regulations pertaining to the use of turtle excluder devices along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the southeastern U.S.

At Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Virgin Islands, nest relocations and protection from poaching possibly have resulted in a doubling of the number of emerging hatchlings (Boulon et al. 1996).

See Chan (1989) for information on handling eggs and artificial incubation.

A recovery plan is available for marine turtles: see Marine Turtle Recovery Team (1984). For detailed information on management and recovery, see also the recovery plans for the St. Croix population (1981), U.S. Pacific populations (NMFS 1998), and South Florida population (USFWS 1998).

Management Research Needs: Determine sustainability of egg harvest. Information needed on ecology, demographics, and migratory movements. Determine nest site tenacity.

Biological Research Needs: Better information is needed on ecology, demographics, migratory movements, nest site tenacity, bycatch, survivorship rates, and the status of stocks throughout the range.

Global Protection: Few to several (1-12) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: The Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC) is the only treaty devoted exclusively to sea turtles and aims to "promote the protection, conservation and recovery of sea turtle populations and of the habitats on which they depend, based on the best available scientific evidence, taking into account the environmental, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the Parties." This treaty involves 21 nations, including the United Staes, in preserving sea turtles as an internationally shared resource (seaturtle.org 2003, C. Ryder, pers. comm.).

Critical Habitat has been designated at St. Croix, Virgin Islands; Santa Rosa N.P., Costa Rica; and sites in Mexico.

NMFS (Federal Register, 12 May 1995) established a leatherback conservation zone extending from Cape Canaveral to the Virginia-North Carolina border and including all inshore and offshore waters; this zone is subject to shrimping closures when high abundances of leatherbacks are documented. For example, on 20 December 2001, NOAA Fisheries issued a temporary rule that required shrimp trawlers operating in Atlantic waters from the shoreline out to 10 nautical miles between 28 degrees north latitude, approximately Melbourne, Florida and the Florida/ Georgia border, to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) with escape openings modified to exclude leatherback turtles. This emergency rule, effective through 14 January 2002, was based on a number of factors including the presence of an extraordinarily high number of leatherbacks stranded along northeast Florida beaches in November and early December. According to state authorities, 15 dead leatherbacks washed ashore from St. Johns through Brevard counties in shrimp zones 28 and 29 between November 4 and December 10, 2001 (NMFS 2000). TED programs have been initiated in several other countries as well.

Larger TEDs that are more effective in excluding larger hard-shelled and leatherback turtles are now required in certain areas during specified times. Use of TEDs with openings large enough to accommodate leatherbacks is required of U.S. shrimp trawlers in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

In 1989, a law was passed (Section 609 of U.S. Public Law 101-162) prohibiting U.S. importation of shrimp harvested in ways that are harmful to sea turtles; only nations certified by the Department of State as having a sea turtle protection program similar to that in the United States (i.e., requiring and enforcing TED use) may avoid this trade embargo. Time length of individual shrimp trawls is also limited to reduce drowning risk to trapped sea turtles, and fisheries observers are required on a certain percentage of U.S. vessels fishing the North Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico.

Nest beaches are protected in most parts of the species' range, but outside of U.S. jurisdiction law enforcement is often insufficient (Showalter 2003).

Needs: Protection needs include the following: protect all existing occurrences (increase survival of eggs and hatchlings); reduce adult mortality, such as by reducing incidental catch (mandatory use of TEDs, elimination of drift nets); restrict dumping of plastics and other debris and pollutants.

See also recovery plans and Spotila et al. (1996).

Populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the eastern Pacific have declined by more than 90% during the past two decades, primarily due to unsustainable egg harvest and fisheries bycatch mortality (Shillinger et al. 2008 and references therein). To better understand habitat use and migration patterns of these turtles, Shillinger et al. (2008) undertook a multi-year satellite tracking study and identified a very consistent migration corridor. They suggest that their data will facilitate the identification of potential areas for mitigating fisheries bycatch interactions in the eastern South Pacific.

This species does not harm humans or cause significant costs. It's flesh is sometimes toxic to humans and other animals, perhaps due to toxins ingested as part of its diet of jellyfish.

Negative Impacts: injures humans (poisonous )

Although the flesh of adult leatherbacks can sometimes be toxic, adults and eggs are used for food in some locations, and in a few places the oil from the bodies of adults is extracted for medicinal use and as a waterproofing agent.

Leatherbacks eat jellyfish that are pests for swimmers and fishermen, especially for marine fish-farming. Consumption estimates vary, one study estimated that adult leatherbacks probably eat about 1000 kg of jellyfish per year, an earlier study estimated 2900-3650 kg/yr.

Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material

Comments: Eggs are harvested for human consumption in many areas. Adults generally are not exploited for food or commercial products, though sometimes the oil is rendered and used for caulking boats and for medicinal purposes (Van Meter 1983). Suarez and Starbird (1996) documented subsistence hunting of leatherbacks in Indonesia.

Comments: Two described subspecies, D. c. coriacea (Atlantic Ocean) and D. c. schlegelii (Pacific and Indian oceans), seem to be poorly differentiated and currently are not recognized (Pritchard 1980). Should the populations in the Pacific prove to be a valid subspecies, the proper name would be D. c. angusta (Pritchard and Trebbau 1984). Brongersma (1996) determined that the source of the type material for the name schlegelii likely is Japan and not Guaymas, Mexico.