FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. DO LEATHERBACKS HAVE OTHER NAMES?
A: Yes! While “Leatherback” is the most common name, leathery turtle, trunk turtle, trunkback, coffinback, and caldong are also used.
Q: ARE LEATHERBACKS LIKE OTHER TURTLES?
A: In many ways leatherbacks are similar to other sea turtles. They are skilled swimmers, they mature slowly and live for many decades, they travel long distances between feeding and nesting grounds, they lay eggs on dry land, breathe air, etc. But leatherbacks “super size” everything! They are larger (and lay larger eggs), swim faster, dive deeper, migrate farther, and tolerate colder temperatures than any other sea turtle.
Q: HOW LONG DO LEATHERBACKS LIVE?
A: Very few leatherbacks reach adulthood, but those that do may live to be 50 years old or more. Leatherbacks are 25 to 30 years old when they lay eggs for the first time. Some tagged females have returned to their nesting beaches for more than 20 years.
Q: HOW LARGE DO LEATHERBACKS GET?
A: Adult females nesting in the Caribbean Sea measure, on average, 150-160 cm (60-63 inches) in shell length and weigh 250 to nearly 600 kg (550-1,300 lb).
Q: ARE MALES LARGER THAN FEMALES?
A: Males are rarely seen. The largest leatherback on record is an adult male (drowned in a fishing net off Wales, U.K. in 1989) that weighed 916 kg (about 2,000 lb).
Q: DO LEATHERBACKS SEE COLOR?
A: Yes – blue and green best; red perhaps not at all.
Q:HOW FAST DO LEATHERBACKS SWIM
A: Adults swim 0.6 to 0.8 meters per second or about 45 to 65 km (28 to 40 miles) per day.
Q: HOW DEEP DO LEATHERBACKS DIVE?
A: Adults Female Leatherbacks can reach depths 1200 meters ( more than 4000 feet) and can stay under water for an hour or more. The average time spent under water before coming to the surface to breathe is usually 5-15 minutes
Q: WHAT DO LEATHERBACKS EAT?
A. Leatherbacks eat jellyfish and other soft bodies animals
DO LEATHERBACKS HAVE TEETH?
A: No. But notches in their upper jaw give the appearance of having “fangs”. The notches are sharp and easily slice through jellyfish.
Q: WHY DO LEATHERBACKS COME ASHORE?
A: Sea turtles must lay their eggs on dry land or the baby turtles inside the eggs will drown.
Q: DO MALES COME ASHORE?
A: No, only females come ashore. Mating occurs at sea, and then the female returns to the coastline where she was born to lay her eggs.
Q: HOW DO FEMALES KNOW WHERE TO GO?
A: As adults, female sea turtles typically return to the beach (or coastline) where they were born. This instinct (scientists call it “natal homing”) is passed from mother to daughter through genetic material called mtDNA.
Q. WHY DOES THE FEMALE NEST AT NIGHT?
A: To avoid over-heating in the sun and reduce risks associated with predators hunting during the day.
Q: HOW MANY TIMES WILL THE FEMALE COME TO THE NESTING BEACH?
A: Leatherbacks typically lay 5 or 6 clutches of eggs (one every 9-10 days) during an annual nesting season which, in the Caribbean region, takes place between March and August (peak: May-June). A female does not nest every year – she will return to the nesting beach every 2 to 5 years.
Q: DO FEMALE LEATHERBACK NEST EVERY YEAR?
A: No. A female is reproductively active every 2 to 5 years. Only during those years will she mate and make the long journey to her nesting beach. The rest of the time is spent feeding in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean, far from the Caribbean Sea.
Q: HOW MANY EGGS ARE LAID IN EACH NEST?
A: In the Caribbean Sea, the most common number of eggs laid in each nest is 80-90. In addition, there are usually 20-30 smaller, often misshaped “yolkless eggs” that do not contain yolk (which is the nourishment for the embryo) and therefore will not produce a baby sea turtle. The yolkless eggs are laid last, and their exact function is not known.
Q: WHY DO FEMALES NEST SO MANY TIMES?
A: A female must produce thousands of eggs during her lifetime because not all of her eggs will hatch, and very, very few of her hatchlings will survive their earliest years at sea. It is estimated that 1 in 1,000 eggs will produce an adult turtle.
Q: WHEN DO THE EGGS HATCH?
A: The baby turtles are formed in 50-70 days, depending on local conditions of temperature, rain, etc. ore ray rest in the neg por 1 to 7 days before digging to the beach surface.
Q: DO ALL OF THE EGGS HATCH?
A: No. In the Caribbean region, an average of 50% to 70% of the eggs in a nest will produce live hatchlings. There are several reasons for this some eggs do not fully develop, and others are lost to erosion, predators, poachers, infertility, etc.
Q: WILL THE HATCHLINGS BE MALE OR FEMALE?
A: Nest temperature during the middle weeks of incubation is important in determining the proportions of male and female hatchlings that will emerge from the nest. Cooler temperatures favour males, while warmer temperatures favour females.
Q: HOW DO HATCHINGS GET OUT OF THE NEST?
A: Each hatchling must break free of the egg using a small, sharp “egg tooth” on the end of its nose, which falls off later . The work together, wiggling slowly to surface of the beach. If they get to the surface during the day, the hot temperature tells them to rest before finishing the journey. When the temperature cools, the hatchlings “know” that the hot sun is gone and that they must emerge from the nest and crawl quickly to the sea.
Q: HOW BIG ARE LEATHERBACK HATCHLINGS?
A: Leatherback hatchlings are about the size of the palm of your hand – usually 60-65 mm (about 2.5 inch. es) in carapace length and about 45g in weight.
Q: WHAT DOES A HATCHLING LOOK LIKE?
A: Leatherback hatchlings are black with white stripes, both on the top and the bottom. They are covered with small, bead-like scales that will soon be lost, revealing smooth black skin underneath and very long front flippers.
Q: HOW DO HATCHLINGS FIND THE SEA?
A: The tiny turtles probably use several pieces of information to guide them, but the main cue is light. Hatchlings are very sensitive to light and this instinct guides them to the horizon of the open sea, which is always brighter – even on a moonless night – than the darker dune line or vegetation in the landward direction.
Credit: Eckert, Karen L. 2010. A Tour Guide’s Reference to Leatherback Sea Turtles.
Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) Technical Report No. 13. Ballwin, Missouri. 27 pp.