Associated Press: Leatherback turtles, annual NJ visitors, are world travelers
Atlantic leatherback turtle laying eggs on a beach.
Photo credit: Conserve Wildlife
Leatherback turtles swim for thousands of miles across the South Atlantic to get to their feeding grounds, a trip that takes some of them 150 days to complete, researchers said Wednesday. The findings are important for conservationists looking to protect the turtles from threats such as fishing nets and hooks, which have been blamed for the dramatically depleted population of leatherbacks in the Pacific Ocean, researchers said.
"All of the routes we've identified take the leatherbacks through areas of high risk from fisheries, so there's a very real danger to the Atlantic population," said Brendan Godley, a professor in conservation biology at the University of Exeter.
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 1/14/2011 7:00 AM 
Categories: Sea Life
Tags: leatherback turtles turtles university of exeter sea turtle
Categories: Sea Life
Tags: leatherback turtles turtles university of exeter sea turtle
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