Skip to main content
CWF Logo
  • Why Support Wildlife
  • |
  • What We Do
  • |
  • Get Involved
Sign In
Username

Password
Forgot?
Not a Member?   Register Today
Français
Donate
Adopt
  • Donate
    • Ways to Give
    • Single
    • Monthly
    • Major Gifts
    • Shop CWF
    • Adopt-an-animal
    • Fundraise
      • Birthday
      • Wedding
      • Anniversary
      • Other Events
    • Symbolic Gifts
    • Planned Giving
    • Foundation
    • Corporate
      • Major Gifts
      • Sponsorship
  • About Us
    • Why Canada's Wildlife Needs Us
    • Board Of Directors
    • Contact Us
      • Contact Us
      • Wildlife Faqs
      • Wildlife Glossary
      • Wildlife Rehab Centres
      • Senior Staff
    • Supporter Centre
    • Get Involved
      • Join Us
      • Volunteer
      • Petitions
      • Spread The Word
      • Surveys
    • Funding
      • Endangered Species Research Fund
      • Foundation Awards
    • Conservation Awards
    • Careers
    • Reports
      • Annual Reports
      • Financial Reports
    • Privacy & Policies
      • Accesssibility
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms Of Use And Copyright
    • Partners & Sponsors
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Endangered Species & Biodiversity
    • Lakes & Rivers
    • Coasts & Oceans
    • Forests & Fields
    • Education & Leadership
    • Connecting With Nature
  • Resources
    • Check out our resources
    • For Kids
    • For Homeowners
    • For Educators
    • Encyclopedias
    • DIY
    • Printed Materials
    • Downloads
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • News & Features
    • All the News
    • Articles
    • Blogs
    • Newsletters
    • News & Media
    • Magazines
  • Foundation
    • About The Foundation
    • Foundation Board
    • News & Media
    • Endowments
      • Orville Erickson Memorial Scholarships
      • Richard Leitch Bursary
      • Captain Lloyd
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Events
      • Goose Gala
      • START
      • Rivers To Oceans
    • Ways To Give
    • Contact
  • Events & Contests
    • Events
    • Contests
  • Blog
  • Magazine
  • Shop
  • Site Search
  • Sign In
  • Français
  • Donate
  • What We Do
  • Resources
  • News & Features
  • Foundation
  • Events & Contests
  • About Us
  • Magazines
  • Site Search
  • Sign In
  • Français
  • Why Support Wildlife
  • |
  • What We Do
  • |
  • Get Involved
Donate
Adopt
Facebook Twitter Wordpress Youtube Instagram Pintrest

Leatherback 101

Home > English > What We Do > ... > Great Canadian Turtle Race > Leatherback 101
  • Great Canadian Turtle Race
  • Supporting the Leatherback Turtles
  • The Race
  • The Turtles
  • The Science
  • Leatherback 101
  • Migration
  • Nutrition
  • Circle of Life
  • Threats to Turtles
  • International Threats
  • Participate!
gctr turtle header

Leatherback turtle entering water from beach

Scientific name: Dermochelys coriacea

The leatherback turtle is dark bluish-black in colour everywhere except for its plastron (bottom shell), which is pinkish-white. The leatherbacks’ carapace (top shell), neck, head, and front flippers can be covered in bluish-white blotches.

The leatherback is named for the leathery, slightly flexible skin covering its shell. Beneath the skin is a thick layer of oil-saturated fat and connective tissue, as well as a matrix of small bony plates that fit together almost like a jigsaw puzzle to form the shell. Seven ridges run the length of the carapace, which is teardrop shaped, and tapers to a blunt point above the animal’s tail. 

Leatherbacks have front and rear flippers. Their front flippers are long (usually half the length of the carapace) and powerful. They have no claws. And, like other sea turtles, leatherbacks cannot pull their heads or flippers under their shells. 

Leatherbacks are the largest of all sea turtles. When they hatch, leatherbacks weigh approximately 45 grams and their carapace ranges between 50 and 75 millimetres in length.  Although mature leatherbacks can weigh more than 900 kilograms and have carapace lengths longer than two metres, the average weight of leatherbacks documented in Atlantic Canadian waters is 392 kilograms, and the average carapace length is 148 centimetres. 

Backing the Leatherback

Weighing in at a hefty 500 kilograms, the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) may seem indestructible; however, it is listed as endangered in Canada by the Committee on the Status of Endangered...

Read More

Circle of Life

Circle of Life

Read More

Migration

Leatherbacks have the most extensive geographic range of any reptile.

Read More

Photography:
Nutrition

In Atlantic Canadian waters, leatherbacks usually feed on lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) and on moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita).

Read More

Threats to Turtles

Leatherbacks are Endangered in Canada and critically endangered worldwide. We hear the word “Endangered” so often that sometimes it doesn’t bother us anymore. But it’s an awful thing to be a species that is...

Read More
arrow

Learn more

Facebook Twitter Wordpress Youtube Instagram Pinterest
CWF

About Us

  • Ways to Give
  • Contact Us
  • Supporter Centre
  • Get Involved
  • Careers
  • Funding
  • Awards
  • Board of Directors
  • Reports
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy & Policies

What We Do

  • Endangered Species & Biodiversity
  • Lakes & Rivers
  • Coasts & Oceans
  • Forests & Fields
  • Education & Leadership
  • Connecting With Nature

News & Features

  • Articles
  • Blogs
  • Newsletters
  • News & Media
  • Magazines

Resources

  • For Kids
  • For Homeowners
  • For Educators
  • Encyclopedias
  • DIY
  • Printed Materials
  • Downloads
  • Videos
  • Photos

Events & Contests

  • National Wildlife Week
  • Help the Bats
  • Great Canadian Campout
  • Rivers to Oceans Week
  • National Conservation Summit 2017
  • Photo Contest
  • My Parks Pass Contest
  • More

Partner Websites

  • BanWithAPlan.org
  • BioblitzCanada.ca
  • Canadian Conservation Corps
  • Canadian Marine Animal Response
  • Hinterland Who's Who
  • iNaturalist.ca
  • Love Your Lake
  • Quest for Canada's Great Whales
Privacy Policy Accessibility Terms of Use Français - Accueil

© 2019 Canadian Wildlife Federation. All Rights Reserved.

Charitable registration # 10686 8755 RR0001

Powered by Blackbaud
nonprofit software