Trivia question for Mar-07-2011

Olivia’s turn and unfortunately as we were researching possible candidates for the trivia, she came across another sad story where a Leatherback Sea Turtle died from ingesting plastic bags.  As a tribute she decided to write her trivia about a turtle she calls smiley.  We will post about the incident in a few days.  The turtle pictured in this picture is not the one that died.  Instead, this picture helps you see the immense size these guys can achieve.  So here is her trivia:

Leatherbacks are the largest living sea turtle in the world with unique soft shells.  Their body temperature stays several degrees above that of seawater, allowing the turtle to penetrate deep into cool ocean waters.  The leatherback turtle is a species with a cosmopolitan global range. Of all the extant sea turtle species, the Leatherback has the widest distribution, reaching as far north as Alaska and Norway and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and the southernmost tip of New Zealand. The leatherback is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, and its range extends well into the Arctic Circle.

Like all sea turtles, leatherbacks start as hatchings, climbing out of the sands of their nesting beaches. Birds, crustaceans, other reptiles, and people prey on hatchings before they reach the water. Once in the ocean, they are rarely seen before maturity. Few turtles survive this period.  Leatherbacks have slightly fewer human-related threats than other sea turtle species. Their flesh contains too much oil and fat, reducing the demand. However, human activity still endangers leatherback turtles in direct and indirect ways. Directly, a few are caught for their meat by subsistence fisheries. Nests are raided by humans in places such as Southeast Asia.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us the deepest recorded dive that a Leatherback has ever made and also the farthest distance a tagged Leatherback has completed.  As a bonus, we know there are 7 species of sea turtles, tell us what the other 6 are?

Good luck and Olivia asks that you please think twice before using any single use shopping bags next time you go shopping… for the turtles sake 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Mary for being the first with the correct answer, albeit that she only got one portion of the answer, she still did a great job.  So here are the facts.  Leatherback sea turtles are the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians. Leatherback turtles can be found primarily in the open ocean. Scientists tracked a leatherback turtle that swam from Indonesia to the U.S. in an epic 20,000 kilometers (12,427 mi) foraging journey over a period of 647 days.

As for the deepest recorded depths a Leatherback has achieved, one Leatherback was recorded at a depth of 4,274-feet.  That is deeper than any other vertebrate has ever achieved.  Here is more on these guys.  Make sure you read how they are able to withstand the underwater pressure at those depths, its pretty cool:  Leatherback Sea Turtle

Thanks for playing along 😉