The magnificent leatherback turtle could be the most amazing animal on earth. Like the other remaining species of marine turtle, it left its terrestrial forebears about 110 million years ago, developed flippers, and populated the Seven Seas---before there were Seven Seas.
The world was a very different place way back then. The Himalayas of Tibet did not exist that long ago. Indeed, there would be no Himalayas for sixty five million more years. Antarctica was connected to Australia when the earliest leatherbacks took to the sea and would not uncouple from it for about 30 million more generations of these sea animals. South America was close to West Antarctica. Another eighty million years would go by before Antarctica would turn into the frigid continent of today. The South Atlantic Ocean was still forming. Indeed, not only were there no Seven Seas way back then, there were not seven continents, either.
They lived during the epochs dinosaurs roamed the planet. Actually, they were here millions of years before the first dinosaur came into existence. They were swimming the oceans 400,000 centuries before the ferocious T Rex made its debut. Yes, you read it correctly, 400,000 centuries. This incredible species of animal outlived the dinosaurs and even survived the greatest mass extinction the world has ever experienced.
Perhaps you know that porpoises and the mighty whales were animals that once lived on land and moved to the water. But, porpoises and whales are mammals (whose closest relative is the hippo) that did not exist until millions of years after the last dinosaur died. Sea turtles had already made the transition from land to sea for fifty million years before these mighty mammalian leviathans first left land for the water.
Of the six sea turtle species remaining, these are by far the grandest. They sometimes weigh nearly two thousand pounds. A few years ago one caught in Wales tipped the scales at 1,980 pounds. And, despite its impressive size, this great creature lived through the terrible and extraordinary mass extinction that killed all of the mighty dinosaurs. One of the oldest and most resilient animals on the face of the globe, it is clearly qualified for the "most amazing animal" award but there is more to this animal---much more.
Consider its athletecism. As a swimmer, how does the lugubrious leatherback stack up against, say, Michael Phelps. Phelps is the fastest swimmer in the world and holds the 200 meter freestyle world record. But, suppose he had to swim that race against a leatherback. Without a doubt Phelps would be sleeker and trimmer and the turtle would have to drag through the water about 1,800 more pounds (sort of like a handicap for a race horse). Now, imagine that the spectacular Phelps swam the race of his life and set another world record at 200 meters. And where would the turtle be? Oh, yea. It would be off in the distance some 800 meters ahead, having left Michael in its wake. This turtle can swim 1,000 meters in the same time Phelps swims just 200. The extraordinary shelled athlete is in the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest reptile on earth! And, incredibly, a leatherback swims at nearly the same speed as the world's fastest man can run---in the short 100 yard dash! Impressed yet?
This marine speed demon is also a marathon swimmer of epic proportions and may migrate farther than any other animal. One of these turtles was tracked by scientists migrating 13,000 miles.
Are you still unconvinced that, despite the accomplishments described above, it is the most amazing animal? The best part is still to come. This extraordinary creature regularly does something that Man has never been able accomplish. It can dive from the surface of the ocean down 4,000 feet where pressure is about 2,000 pounds per inch. How much pressure is that? Well, suppose that you are the captain of today's strongest, best built, most modern, sophisticated, nuclear attack submarine and you dove right alongside the leatherback. At about 2,400 feet, you would have to stop because even with the most modern and strongest composite and metal structures known to Man you'd be crushed like a tin can if you went deeper. And the turtle? It would be swimming, five times faster than Phelps, 1,600 feet deeper.
There is also this incredible fact. Except where Man has destroyed them, leatherbacks swim all tropical and subtropical waters on earth. But, and this is the really amazing thing, they have been seen as far north as the Arctic Circle and below New Zealand where water temperatures can be only a few degrees above freezing. Yet, even though they are cold blooded, they stay nearly tropically warm because they can maintain a body temperature as much as 32 degrees higher than the surrounding water.
Unfortunately, in literally the last three decades, this magnificent animal has been decimated in numbers and is in danger of extinction. In 1980, Mexico boasted two-thirds leatherbacks on earth. By 2005, its leatherback population had collapsed 99%, a catastrophe by any measurement. In far off Malaysia, on beaches that once had 10,000 leatherback nests a year, there were two nestings in 2008. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity, greed, and destructiveness. The Angels are surely weeping.
This reptile was witness to the separation of the continents and birth of the modern oceans, lived through millions of years where mighty dinosaurs dominated the planet and preyed on it on land and in the sea, survived the mass extinction caused by a meteorite. It swims faster, farther, deeper than almost anything on the planet and has been in our world longer than there have been mountains of Tibet . Can it survive us?
If you are thinking about a Costa Rica vacation, be sure to visit one of its world-famous sea turtle parks or reserves. Tortuguerois on its Caribbean coast and is home to the largest green sea turtle nesting on earth. Travel Costa Rica west to the Pacific and you'll see the largest arribadas or mass nestings of olive ridley sea turtles on earth. Leatherbacks nest at many Costa Rica beaches.
The world was a very different place way back then. The Himalayas of Tibet did not exist that long ago. Indeed, there would be no Himalayas for sixty five million more years. Antarctica was connected to Australia when the earliest leatherbacks took to the sea and would not uncouple from it for about 30 million more generations of these sea animals. South America was close to West Antarctica. Another eighty million years would go by before Antarctica would turn into the frigid continent of today. The South Atlantic Ocean was still forming. Indeed, not only were there no Seven Seas way back then, there were not seven continents, either.
They lived during the epochs dinosaurs roamed the planet. Actually, they were here millions of years before the first dinosaur came into existence. They were swimming the oceans 400,000 centuries before the ferocious T Rex made its debut. Yes, you read it correctly, 400,000 centuries. This incredible species of animal outlived the dinosaurs and even survived the greatest mass extinction the world has ever experienced.
Perhaps you know that porpoises and the mighty whales were animals that once lived on land and moved to the water. But, porpoises and whales are mammals (whose closest relative is the hippo) that did not exist until millions of years after the last dinosaur died. Sea turtles had already made the transition from land to sea for fifty million years before these mighty mammalian leviathans first left land for the water.
Of the six sea turtle species remaining, these are by far the grandest. They sometimes weigh nearly two thousand pounds. A few years ago one caught in Wales tipped the scales at 1,980 pounds. And, despite its impressive size, this great creature lived through the terrible and extraordinary mass extinction that killed all of the mighty dinosaurs. One of the oldest and most resilient animals on the face of the globe, it is clearly qualified for the "most amazing animal" award but there is more to this animal---much more.
Consider its athletecism. As a swimmer, how does the lugubrious leatherback stack up against, say, Michael Phelps. Phelps is the fastest swimmer in the world and holds the 200 meter freestyle world record. But, suppose he had to swim that race against a leatherback. Without a doubt Phelps would be sleeker and trimmer and the turtle would have to drag through the water about 1,800 more pounds (sort of like a handicap for a race horse). Now, imagine that the spectacular Phelps swam the race of his life and set another world record at 200 meters. And where would the turtle be? Oh, yea. It would be off in the distance some 800 meters ahead, having left Michael in its wake. This turtle can swim 1,000 meters in the same time Phelps swims just 200. The extraordinary shelled athlete is in the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest reptile on earth! And, incredibly, a leatherback swims at nearly the same speed as the world's fastest man can run---in the short 100 yard dash! Impressed yet?
This marine speed demon is also a marathon swimmer of epic proportions and may migrate farther than any other animal. One of these turtles was tracked by scientists migrating 13,000 miles.
Are you still unconvinced that, despite the accomplishments described above, it is the most amazing animal? The best part is still to come. This extraordinary creature regularly does something that Man has never been able accomplish. It can dive from the surface of the ocean down 4,000 feet where pressure is about 2,000 pounds per inch. How much pressure is that? Well, suppose that you are the captain of today's strongest, best built, most modern, sophisticated, nuclear attack submarine and you dove right alongside the leatherback. At about 2,400 feet, you would have to stop because even with the most modern and strongest composite and metal structures known to Man you'd be crushed like a tin can if you went deeper. And the turtle? It would be swimming, five times faster than Phelps, 1,600 feet deeper.
There is also this incredible fact. Except where Man has destroyed them, leatherbacks swim all tropical and subtropical waters on earth. But, and this is the really amazing thing, they have been seen as far north as the Arctic Circle and below New Zealand where water temperatures can be only a few degrees above freezing. Yet, even though they are cold blooded, they stay nearly tropically warm because they can maintain a body temperature as much as 32 degrees higher than the surrounding water.
Unfortunately, in literally the last three decades, this magnificent animal has been decimated in numbers and is in danger of extinction. In 1980, Mexico boasted two-thirds leatherbacks on earth. By 2005, its leatherback population had collapsed 99%, a catastrophe by any measurement. In far off Malaysia, on beaches that once had 10,000 leatherback nests a year, there were two nestings in 2008. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity, greed, and destructiveness. The Angels are surely weeping.
This reptile was witness to the separation of the continents and birth of the modern oceans, lived through millions of years where mighty dinosaurs dominated the planet and preyed on it on land and in the sea, survived the mass extinction caused by a meteorite. It swims faster, farther, deeper than almost anything on the planet and has been in our world longer than there have been mountains of Tibet . Can it survive us?
If you are thinking about a Costa Rica vacation, be sure to visit one of its world-famous sea turtle parks or reserves. Tortuguerois on its Caribbean coast and is home to the largest green sea turtle nesting on earth. Travel Costa Rica west to the Pacific and you'll see the largest arribadas or mass nestings of olive ridley sea turtles on earth. Leatherbacks nest at many Costa Rica beaches.
About the Author:
The author, Victor Krumm lives in tropical Costa Rica. Follow his lovely site Costa Rica Vacations and for info about marine turtles check out Sea Turtles
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