hi steemian friend, meet me again. this time I will give information about leatherback turtle.
The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is a giant turtle species and the only one of the surviving Dermochelyidae tribe. This turtle is the largest turtle in the world and is the fourth largest reptile in the world after three types of crocodiles. Leatherback turtle is known by some communities with the title of giant turtle, pocket or mabo. Its common name in English is Leatherback sea turtle.
The main food of this animal is jellyfish. Leatherback turtles always migrate from one shore to another to search for nests. This animal migration period between 2 - 3 years with rest between 9 - 10 days. The number of nests made each season reaches 6 nests. Eggs are produced between 80 - 100 grains. In the course of his life, only a few turtle children can survive to adulthood because of the many dangers in the sea for newly hatched baby turtles.
The leatherback has a pair of front legs in the form of a rower's feet that gives him the dexterity of swimming in the water. Although his entire life wanders in the water, once in a vertebrate group of animals, the reptile class still has to occasionally rise to the surface of the water for breath. That's because the turtles breathe with the lungs. Turtles generally migrate at considerable distances with not too long periods. Distance of 3.000 kilometers can be reached 58 - 73 days.
Turtles experience a variety of laying cycles, from 2 - 8 years. While male turtles spend their entire lives at sea, females occasionally stop by land to lay their eggs. Female turtles love the desolate sandy beaches of humans and the source of noise and light as the hundreds of spawning places, in a hole dug with a pair of back legs. On landing to spawn, light or sound disturbance can cause the turtle to abandon its intentions and return to the sea, as well as turtles using earth magnetism as an aid to return to their hometown when it is still a hatchling, and return as adults to lay eggs.
Leatherback turtle (Leatherback) has a wide spread area covering the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean. Although the distribution area and habitat are wide but the leatherback turtle populations are increasingly declining dratis.
This population decline is caused by poaching for meat, eggshells and eggs. Marine pollution also affects the population of leatherback turtles, not a few leatherback turtles that died after eating plastic junk thought jellyfish. In addition, the destruction of coastal ecosystems due to coastal abrasion or human activities often create turtles that want to lay eggs on the coast because they feel unsafe.
For information, species endangered turtles (Endangered). Then how efforts should be done to protect them? First by avoiding consumption or products that use turtle body parts and secondly maintaining the cleanliness and tranquility of nesting beaches and not directly interacting with turtles. We can also join the agencies or organizations involved in the turtle conservation and protection program.