Question

review what you learned
after reading pages 72 - 73 of your textbook, answer the following questions to review what you learned.

1. why is it easier to tag a female leatherback sea turtle than a male?
2. describe an adult leatherback sea turtle.
3. where have leatherback sea turtles been known to swim (migrate) from?
4. what is the diet of the leatherback sea turtle?
5. how often do leatherback sea turtles reproduce?
6. leatherback sea turtles are endangered. approximately how many nesting females are there worldwide? why is it difficult for us to determine the size of the male population?

Explanation:

1. Female leatherback sea - turtles come to shore to nest, making them more accessible for tagging compared to males which stay mostly in the open ocean.
2. Adult leatherback sea - turtles are large, with a rubbery carapace, can grow up to several feet long and weigh over a thousand pounds. They have flippers adapted for swimming in the ocean.
3. Leatherback sea - turtles are known to migrate from tropical and subtropical nesting beaches to colder, more productive feeding grounds in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
4. Their diet mainly consists of jellyfish, but they may also eat other soft - bodied organisms like salps and sea squirts.
5. Leatherback sea - turtles reproduce every 2 - 3 years, with females making multiple nesting trips during a breeding season.
6. There are approximately 26,000 - 43,000 nesting females worldwide. It is difficult to determine the size of the male population because males remain in the open ocean and are rarely seen or accessible for counting.

Answer:

1. Females come to shore to nest, making them more accessible.
2. Large, with rubbery carapace, long flippers, can be several feet long and over a thousand pounds.
3. Tropical and subtropical nesting beaches to colder feeding grounds in major oceans.
4. Mainly jellyfish, also salps and sea squirts.
5. Every 2 - 3 years, multiple nesting trips per breeding season.
6. Approximately 26,000 - 43,000 nesting females. Males stay in open ocean, hard to count.