Threat To The Leatherback Turtle

Leatherbacks are sometimes called the last of the dinosaurs because their ancient ancestors lived when the dinosaurs did. Their ability to swim long distances may be one of the reasons they survived whatever killed most of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. In modern times, one leatherback swam from Indonesia to Oregon. It had traveled 12,774 miles in 647 days, the longest distance ever tracked for a marine animalThese sea turtles are also known for returning to the same nesting sites from which they hatched. Hatchling leatherbacks make a mad dash from the sand to the sea to avoid air and land predators. While gains have been made to improve the turtles' chances against commercial fishing techniques, humans have continued building on nesting beaches and polluting the oceans. Find out what other threats the leatherbacks face, and what you can do to help protect these endangered reptiles of the sea.

They’re powerful, fierce carnivores...and they need our help. Tigers are in very real danger of extinction. Hundreds of years of people hunting tigers and destroying their habitats have drastically reduced their numbers. Now, several countries and wildlife groups have teamed up to save the remaining tigers prowling the forests of Asia. This volume is filled with vivid photographs and fun fact boxes, helping readers learn about the six subspecies of tigers, their behaviors, and the recent efforts to save them.

"The leatherback seaturtle is the world's largest reptile. It is significantly larger than all other marine turtles"--p. [1].

Written by two of the Southeast's foremost authorities on sea turtle conservation, this is an accessible, fully illustrated guide to the species that frequent the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. No one who encounters a sea turtle soon forgets it. The leatherback, for instance, can grow to huge proportions, commonly approaching eight feet in length and more than half a ton in weight. Powerful swimmers, they are also among the deepest divers of all air-breathing sea creatures. Despite these assets, the survival of the leatherback, like that of all sea turtle species, is under constant threat from commercial fishing operations, overdevelopment of nesting grounds, pollution, and predation by introduced species. The guide opens with comprehensive coverage of the sea turtle's evolution, juvenile and adult life cycles, nesting, diet and feeding, disease and parasites, predators, and conservation issues. Each subsequent chapter is dedicated to a particular turtle species: loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, green sea turtle, hawksbill, and olive ridley. The account of each species describes distribution, habitats, general appearance, life history and behavior, and conservation. For each species, photographs of hatchlings and adults and a map showing distribution and migration provide further information. Sea turtles have been swimming the seas for one hundred million years. Yet all of the species in this book—indeed, all sea turtles worldwide—are on U.S. and international endangered lists. Biologists Carol Ruckdeschel and C. Robert Shoop have dedicated their careers to learning about sea turtles—and to ensuring that we understand that we are stakeholders in the fate of these ancient creatures. With this guide in hand, readers will be better equipped to understand sea turtle biology and support sea turtle conservation efforts.

Describes the physical characteristics, behavior, and habitat of the leatherback turtle and discusses some of the reasons it is in danger of extinction.