Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts: The Deep-Diving Giants

The leatherback is the world's largest living turtle. Its scientific name is Dermochelys coriacea. Its skin-covered back has seven lengthwise ridges. NOAA leatherback profile.

A giant that eats soft prey

Leatherbacks eat gelatinous animals such as jellyfish and salps. Backward-pointing structures in their mouth and throat help hold that slippery prey. These are not rows of ordinary chewing teeth. NOAA diet and anatomy.

Ocean journeys on a huge scale

NOAA researchers describe leatherbacks exceeding 450 kilograms and two metres in length. Some travel more than 10,000 kilometres between nesting areas in Indonesia and waters off the western United States. Those are observations of large turtles and long migrations, not a size or journey every individual reaches. NOAA West Coast research.

Leatherbacks can dive to roughly 4,000 feet, or 1,200 metres. A deep-dive observation is a capability, not the depth of every feeding trip. NOAA diving information.

How do we know where they go?

Research teams use satellite tracking, aerial surveys and cameras carried by turtles to investigate movements and feeding. A line on a tracking map records evidence about a particular animal; it is not a route that all leatherbacks follow. NOAA research methods.

Try tracing Indonesia and the U.S. West Coast on a map. Then compare the journey with the distance across your country. Keep the map labeled as an example migration.

Read the leatherback species profile or compare estimated lifespans.