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Defenders Magazine
Wildlife: The Long and Winding Road
Here's a sea voyage that will put many a salty dog to shame: A leatherback sea turtle was tracked by researchers as it swam 12,774 miles, providing the first record of a leatherback's migration through the Pacific Ocean.
The female leatherback turtle—the largest and most endangered of the world's sea turtle species—set off from Indonesia in the summer of 2003, hung around the Pacific Northwest, went down by Hawaii and then headed back toward Oregon after 647 days of swimming—when it's transmission ceased.
Because of their size—leatherbacks can grow more than six feet and weigh some 2,000 pounds—the sea turtles can travel great distances on stored energy reserves and do not have to eat regularly, according to Scott Benson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center and co-author of the study recently published in the journal Chelonian Conservation and Biology.
The researchers tracked nine leatherbacks with satellite transmitters, which they attached to nesting females with a nylon harness. Signals received every two days reported diving behavior, sea temperatures and geographic positions.
The leatherback population has fallen into a steep decline over the past 25 years, prompting the protection of nesting beaches in the western Pacific. But safeguarding the turtles at sea is also crucial. Says Benson: "Ocean-going animals often pass through multiple nations' territories and international waters as they migrate, making their survival the responsibility of not just one nation but many."
For more information about sea turtles, visit Defenders' sea turtle fact sheet.
