Science... Oh what we learn

Endangered Species

Common Name:   Leather Back Sea Turtle

Scientific Name:   Dermochelys coriacea

Physical Description: Leather Back Sea Turtles can be four to six feet long.  They can weigh from 660 to 1,100.  There upper shell is large, stretches out and is flexible. The skin is thin and rubbery, and stretched across thousand of tiny bone plates. There flippers do not have claws. They have delicate sharp teeth.

Abiotic features in its habitat: Temperature, salt, sand, rocks and water

Biotic features in its habitat:  Fish, kelp, seaweed, sharks, and whales

Why is the animal endangered of becoming extinct: The Sea Turtles mistake plastic bags, water bottles, and trash as jellyfish and eat them then die.  There are predators where even this endangered species are. On land when they just barely hatched they have to watch out for incoming seagulls. When and if they do make it out into the sea they have to avoid other predators.  Another reason they may be becoming extinct is that humans accidently catch them while fishing with fishing nets and on fishing lines. Humans also accidently ruin most of the turtles baby nests.

What is being done to make sure the animal stays in the wild: People cleaning up sides of beaches.  If someone finds a turtle on land they call animal researches. As I’ve done some research there are websites that you can adopt one. There is nothing we can do about predators.  So that is what is being done to make sure this turtle stays in the wild and is safe.