Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 5

HABITAT

The leatherback’s habitat requirements and preferences are poorly understood.  Virtually nothing is known of the distribution of hatchling or juvenile turtles.  While mature leatherbacks are regularly encountered in temperate waters, records of small juveniles (e.g., Grant, 1994; Sampaio, 1999) are from tropical waters.  Juveniles may occupy characteristically different habitat from adults.  Cold water tolerance observed in mature leatherbacks is partially a product of a large volume to surface area ratio (Frair et al., 1972; Paladino et al, 1990).  As increased cold-water tolerance in this species is conferred with greater body mass, it is possible that the distribution of smaller turtles (i.e., juveniles) is limited to warmer waters.

Adult leatherbacks are highly migratory and are believed to be the most pelagic of all sea turtles.  However, in the northeastern United States (Shoop & Kenney, 1992) and in Canada (James, 2000), leatherbacks are regularly observed along the continental shelf.  Leatherbacks normally inhabit areas where coelenterate productivity is high, along oceanic frontal systems and along vertical gradients located at oceanic fronts (Lutcavage, 1996).  Therefore, habitat for this species may largely be determined by prey availability, with turtles moving from offshore waters into coastal areas to exploit seasonal proliferations of jellyfish.

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