limited to sharks and killer whales {Orcinus orca) 

 Caldwell and Caldwell 1969). 



Incidental catches by commercial shrimping 

 and fishing boats result in entanglement and sub- 

 sequent drowning in the trawler nets. 



Littering of the seas is believed to have some 

 impact on sea turtle populations. Plastic bags have 

 the appearance of jellyfish, but cause death when 

 eaten by turtles (Rebel 1974). 



PRIORITY INDEX 



Not assigned. 



DESCRIPTION 



The largest of all turtles, it is easily disting- 

 uished by its leathery skin. The neck and limbs 

 are thick and feebly retractible. Average carapace 

 length is 155cm. Adults generally weigh from 

 290 to 590kg. The carapace is triangular, and is 

 covered with a layer of rubbery skin rather than 

 horny shields. Carapace has seven longitudinal 

 ridges. Head and neck are black or dark brown 

 with a few white or yellow blotches. Each side of 

 the gray upper jaw has a tooth-like cusp. The 

 lower jaw is hooked anteriorly. Paddle-like claw- 

 less limbs are black with white margins, and may 

 have white spots. 



Hatchlings are dark brown or black with 

 white or yellow carapacial keels and flipper mar- 

 gins. Skin is covered with small scales that become 

 thinner with each molt — starting about 3 weeks 

 after hatching. 



Black-and-white photographs are in Carr 

 (1952, 1967), Bustard (1973), Rebel (1974), 

 Riedman and Witham (1974), and LeBuff (1976). 

 Deraniyagala (1939) presents a complete pictorial 

 and descriptive anatomical discussion. 



RANGE 



The leatherback is widely distributed in the 

 oceans of the world. From tropical Atlantic, 

 Pacific, and Indian Oceans, they are found as far 

 north as British Columbia, Newfoundland, and 

 the British Isles. They are found as far south as 

 Australia, Cape of Good Hope, and Argentina. 

 Other bodies of water, such as the Mediterranean 

 Sea are also inhabited. 



In spite of what appears to be a large range, it 

 represents a reduction as compared to the range 

 in earlier times (lUCN 1968). 



Major nesting beaches are in Malaya, Surinam, 

 French Guiana, Mexico, Costa Rica, South Africa, 

 Dominican Republic, and U.S. Virgin Islands. 



Annual United States nesting is restricted to 

 Florida, although one nesting incident in 1966 in 

 North Carolina was reported by Schwartz (Per- 

 sonal communication). Atlantic Coast nests have 

 been recorded from Flagler Beach to Miami, with 

 the majority of records from Palm Beach and 

 Martin Counties. There appears to be a small 

 population that nests regularly on Hutchinson 

 Island, Martin County. On the Gulf Coast, nesting 

 is common in March and April (A. F. Carr per- 

 sonal communication). 



Two reported nesting occurrences in Florida 

 have been on publicly owned beaches: Sebastian 

 State Park, Brevard County, and St. Vincent 

 National Wildhfe Refuge, Franklin County. Other 

 recorded nesting beaches are in private ownership. 

 They are protected by the Florida Department of 

 Natural Resources which, according to Witham 

 (Personal communication), protects all nesting 

 sea turtles. 



RANGE MAP 



Distribution off the continental United States 

 is illustrated by shading adjacent coasthnes. 

 Recorded nesting localities are depicted by dots. 



STATES /COUNTIES 



Alabama: Baldwin, Mobile. 



California: Del Norte, Humboldt, Los Angeles, 

 Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Orange, 

 San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis 

 Abispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, 

 Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Ventura. 



Delaware: Kent, Sussex. 



Florida: Bay, Brevard Broward, Charlotte, 

 Citrus, Collier, Dade, Dixie, Duval, 

 Flagler, Franklin, Gulf, Hernando, 

 Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson, 

 Lee, Levy, Manatee, Martin, Monroe, 

 Nassau, Okaloosa, Palm Beach, Pasco, 

 Pinellas, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Santa 

 Rosa, Sarasota, Volusia, Wakulla, 

 Walton. 



Georgia: Bryan, Camdon, Chatham, Glynn, 

 Liberty, Mcintosh. 



Louisiana: Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson, Lafourche, 

 (Parishes) Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Mary, 

 Terrebonne, Vermilion. 



Maine: Cumberland, Hancock, Knox, Lincoln, 



Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington, York. 



Maryland: Calvert, Dorchester, Somerset, St. 

 Marys, Talbot, Worchester. 



