Wildlife Alliance

Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Status: Critically endangered

Habitat Range:

The Leatherback Sea Turtle is found in all tropical and subtropical regions throughout the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Adult leatherbacks are capable of tolerating fluctuating water temperatures, and have been sighted as far north as Labrador, Alaska and Norway to as far south as Chile, the Cape of Good Hope, Argentina, and the southern end of New Zealand. Their primary remaining nesting areas are found on the coasts of northern South America and West Africa. Minor nesting colonies are supported in the U.S. Caribbean and primarily in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and southeast Florida.

Numbers Left in the Wild: Unknown

Primary Threats:

The intensive harvesting of their eggs, which are used in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) and food dishes is a major threat to this species. The growing demand for turtle soup has also caused their population to suffer. The turtle’s accidental capture in oceanic fisheries’ gillnets, long lines and trawls is another main threat. Leatherback sea turtles are thought to be attracted to longlines due to the chemical light sticks attached to them, which may resemble jellyfish, their primary food source. This also makes leatherbacks susceptible to the threat of floating plastic garbage.

Consequently, almost 50 percent of leatherbacks recently studied had plastic bags or cellophane lodged in their stomachs or intestines. These turtles have also long been hunted for their shells and other parts to be made into turtle souvenirs which are marketed to tourists. Their preferred nesting beaches are also often the same beaches most heavily populated with people. All over the world, human development has encroached on important turtle nesting grounds. Accompanying human settlement, pet dogs and pigs have also become lethal predators of turtle eggs and hatchlings.

What we are doing to help:

• Through converting underwater shipwrecks from World War II into artificial reefs we have provided safe harbors for sea turtles in the Federated States of Micronesia's(FSM) waters.
  
  
• We have helped protect sea turtles against the islanders in the FSM who use both the turtles and their eggs for food.