Leatherback Sea Turtle : Seen In Visakhapatnam

Leatherback Sea Turtle: Seen In Visakhapatnam

In a rare occurrence, a leatherback sea turtle was seen after a gap of seven years in Visakhapatnam.

• Leatherback Sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world.
• It is the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell.
• They are named for their tough rubbery skin and have existed in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs.
• These turtles are highly migratory which can swim over 10,000 miles a year between nesting and foraging grounds.
• They are also accomplished divers with the deepest recorded dive reaching nearly 4,000 feet deeper than most marine mammals.
• It has a unique thermoregulatory adaptation allows them to maintain core body temperatures at extremely cold depths.
• It is found in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic.They have the widest global distribution of any reptile, with nesting mainly on tropical or subtropical beaches.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix I