It must be exhausting being a leatherback!
Did you know that.....
- Leatherbacks travel the furthest distances (up to 12,000 km) and dive the deepest (1200m) of all the turtles.
- Leatherback turtles show an amazing knack for travelling across the oceans. They don’t even use the major ocean currents to swim to where they are going. In fact, the turtles completely disregard the direction of the currents.
posted by Fiona O'Doherty @ 11:00 AM
13 Comments:
Very interesting. Just wanted to let you know we are thinking of you (it's COLD here!!) and the leatherbacks! Hope you arrived safely.
Susan J.
Thanks for all the fascinating information, Ms. O'Doherty! Looking forward to the Skype video conferences!
-- Mr. Becker
Test comment.
But they MUST be having fun traveling like some of us--semi leatherbacks!!!
Itir Arkan
Hello Fiona - You are missed here. It is so cold- no heat. Enjoy the warmth of Costa Rica
How much fun, its more like us- semi-leatherbacks.
Can you give us your exact location??
stay safe.
itir
Hope your trip is going well! Can't wait to hear more from you.
TP
Hi Mrs.O'Doherty,
Have you gone swimming with the tortoises yet? Are there any enviormental factors effecting the tortoises right now, that may be making it harder for them to live in the ocean.
Mai Mack
P.S.
hope your jetlags gone, its really cold here and we miss you!
Hey Ms. O'Doherty!
Hope you are having fun! I wondering if you have seen any family of sea turtles? And do family the families even stay together when they are in the ocean?
Liz W.
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Mai, To answer your question about enviornmental factors - el nino has an affect - Normally they come to lay their eggs every 2 - 4 year but this year many are returning after only 2 years. The warmer currents has led to better feeding. The biggest problem though has been the poaching of eggs for many years which breaks the life cycle and this has led to them being on the critically endangered list. Scientist have been working here for 20 years now and there is 0% poaching of eggs and hopefully they will begin to see an increase in teh population soon.
Liz, thanks for the question. No, families don't stay together. Not much is known about males - they never come to shore. The female just comes to land to lay her eggs and then leaves. The hatchlings are on their own after that.
Hi Ms OD!
I hope your having a lot of fun in Costa Rica! I saw the pictures of the sea turtles and they are so cute! Did you name one after our class? I was wondering whether, after the siblings hatched on shore, if they stay together, or if they go their separate ways and lead their own lives? Hope to see more pictures!
-Maeve Weiden Class X
Hi Meave. They all go their separate ways when they go back to sea. In fact it's estimated that only 1 in 1000 survive to adulthood which is sad. They have so many predators when they are that young.
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