Answers to recent questions.

1. Shibani: Yes these leatherbacks are the same species as the leatherbacks found off the coast of India. These creatures have an incredibly large range.
2. Daisy: The leatherbacks are not slimy at all. They have a smooth skin and their hard shell is smooth like hard leather but has ridges—there are beautiful creatures.
3. Ms. Purn’s Second grade: Yes, I have seen an injured leatherback. One of the adult females that came to nest while I was patrolling had only 1 rear flipper. It was just a stub, like it had been amputated. She was still trying to use it to nest making the motions, but obviously not moving much sand. She looked pretty experienced; it was not a new injury.
4. ClassIV- A nest of leatherback eggs takes between 60-75 days to hatch. The turtles lay eggs in different places along the same stretch of beach- the beach is about 3.6 Km long. Scientists put satellites on the sea turtles to track their migration and learn about their behavior at sea. Only females come to shore to nest, so their life at sea is still a bit of a mystery.
5. Desire: When a turtle “nests” that means she is emerging from the sea and comes up on the beach to dig a hole in the sand that she will lay her eggs in and then cover them.
6. Daisy: Yes, we sometimes wear headlamps to help us see in the dark.

Great Questions everyone!