Leatherbacks are the largest turtles on Earth, growing up to seven
feet (two meters) long and exceeding 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms).
These reptilian relics are the only remaining representatives of a
family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100
million years. Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and
Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts
of the world.
While all other sea turtles have hard, bony shells,
the inky-blue carapace of the leatherback is somewhat flexible and
almost rubbery to the touch. Ridges along the carapace help give it a
more hydrodynamic structure. Leatherbacks can dive to depths of 4,200
feet (1,280 meters)—deeper than any other turtle—and can stay down for
up to 85 minutes.
Leatherbacks have the widest global distribution
of all reptile species, and possibly of any vertebrate. They can be
found in the tropic and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and
Indian Oceans,
