Leatherback+Sea+Turtle

=**Leatherback Sea Turtle (//Dermochelys coriacea//)**=


 * People around the world are "Saving the plantet, one turtle at a time."**
 * ===Description:===
 * The inky blue carapace of the leatherback is somewhat flexible and almost rubbery to the touch. They are the largest turtles on Earth, growing up to 7 feet exceeding 2,000 pounds.
 * The only time that they are on land is when they lay eggs and when their eggs hatch and emerge from the nest, making their way to the ocean.
 * Their primary food is jellyfish. They also will eat fish, mollusks, squid, sea urchins, and other marine creatures.
 * The nighttime ritual involves excavating a hole in the sand, depositing around 80 eggs, filling the nest, leaving a large, disturbed area of sand that makes detection by predators difficult, and finally returning to the sea.
 * They can be found in the tropic and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian oceans, and Mediterranean Sea and adults travel as far souty as New Zealand and South America.
 * They live in a habitat that has counter-current heat exchanging system, high oil content. Their large body size, changes in swimming activity, blood flow, and their thick layer of fat allows them to maintain a core body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water, thereby allowing them to tolerate colder water temperatures then other sea turtles.
 * The Leatherback Sea Turtle was added to the Endangered Species List on June 2, 1970.
 * Population Estimate: 35,860 nesting females.
 * Leatherbacks have historically been taken only rarely for their meat. The greatest threat used to be to their eggs, and this threat still exists. There aren't as many eggs to poach these days, however, because fewer and fewer leatherbacks show up to nest. Scientists have concluded that gill-net and longline fisheries are to blame.
 * To help save this organism, people take the young right to the ocean when they hatch. There are treaties stating that they can't touch the turtle and many organizations are being formed or are already formed to help save them.
 * The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 protects plants and animals that are listed by the federal government as "endangered" or "threatened."
 * This program helps to conserve plants and animals whose populations are threatened or endangered. Extinctions have been occurring at the highest rate in recorded history.
 * ===History of ESA:===
 * 1968:Buys its first endangered species habitat: 2,300 acres.
 * 1973: It was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 28, with the purpose of protecting species and also "the ecosystems upon which they depend.
 * 1978: Congress responds to the court ruling by creating the "god squad": a committee that could exempt selected species from protection.
 * 1996: In addition to 952 listed species, 139 are proposed for listing, 179 are candidates likely to need listing, and nearly 4,000 more are "species of concern".
 * As of 2009 there are more than 1,900 species listed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
 * I would add an amendment stating that no one could destroy the habitat of any animal on the list because their habitat is important to their survival.

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Go to [] to find information on how to help save the Leatherback Sea Turtles.