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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Dermochelys coriacea
Leatherback Sea Turtle

 
Scientific Name: Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761)
English Name: Leatherback Sea Turtle
English Name Synonyms: Leatherback
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: King, F. W., and R. L. Burke, editors. 1989. Crocodilian, tuatara, and turtle species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Association of Systematics Collections, Washington, D.C. 216 pp.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: R-DECO
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Chelonia Testudines Dermochelyidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G2G3 (Oct 2025)
Provincial Status: S1N (Mar 2025)
BC List: Red
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status: Endangered (Dec 2022)
COSEWIC Comments: Dermochelys coriacea pop. 1 (Pacific population).
SARA Schedule: 1  -  Endangered (May 2017)
General Status Canada:
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description: Carapace has seven prominent longitudinal ridges, plastron has five ridges; no scutes on skin-covered carapace and plastron; carapace blackish or dark bluish, often with irregular whitish or pink blotches; plastron mainly whitish; the largest turtle, with adults usually 135-178 cm (to 189 cm) in carapace length, 295-544 kg (to 916 kg); young are black and white, covered with numerous small beady scales (later shed), carapace about 6-7.5 cm at hatching (Conant and Collins 1991).
Global Reproduction Comments: Lays up to 10+ (average 5 in Virgin Islands, 5-7 in Puerto Rico) clutches of 50-170 eggs (typically 70-90 normal eggs in the Atlantic, usually fewer than 60 in the eastern Pacific) at intervals of about 1-2 weeks; most individuals nest every 2-3 years. Nests at night, March-August in Western Hemisphere. Eggs hatch in 8-10 weeks. Reportedly sexually mature in 6-10 years, or possibly less, or perhaps 20-50 years; females in the Atlantic mature at a carapace length of 137-145 cm, Pacific females mature at slightly smaller size (Eckert 1992). Zug and Parham (1996) conducted a skeletochronological analysis and concluded that "for conservation management purposes, 9 years is a likely minimum age for maturity based on the youngest adult in the sample." Limited data indicate a post-maturation longevity of up to about two decades (Pritchard 1996).
Global Ecology Comments: Eggs and hatchlings incur high rates of mortality from predation; humans are significant egg predators. Adults often die from drowning in commercial fishing nets and from eating floating debris, especially plastic. In Malaysia, egg survivorship (to hatching) was 0.63 (see Iverson 1991).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Moves hundreds or thousands of kilometers between nesting beaches and distant marine waters; transequatorial migrations have been documented. Pattern of epibiont colonization in Caribbean suggests that gravid turtles do not arrive from temperate latitudes until just prior to nesting, and that they go directly to a preferred nesting beach; nesters apparently arrive asynchronously (Eckert and Eckert 1988). Individual females may nest on multiple islands within a region; a female that nested on St. Croix, Virgin Islands, during the next 18 days, nested also on Isla Vieques and Isla Culebra (Keinath and Musick 1993); see also Boulon et al. (1996). Caribbean nesters apparently move north along Atlantic coast after nesting (appear at least as far north as the northeastern U.S. in late summer; Boulon et al. 1988). A leatherback tagged in Chesapeake Bay in late May 1985 was captured off southern Cuba in late July 1986 (Keinath and Musick 1990). Leatherbacks from nesting areas in Suriname and Costa Rica (Caribbean coast) were found in summer off Nova Scotia (James 2004).

Morreale et al. (1996) documented a migration corridor extending from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica through the vicinity of the Galapagos Islands.

A nesting female tagged in Suriname was captured off Ghana, West Africa, less than 1 year later (Eckert 1992).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Ocean / Eelgrass Beds / Unknown
Ocean / Intertidal Marine / Unknown
Ocean / Kelp Bed / Unknown
Ocean / Marine Island / Unknown
Ocean / Pelagic / Unknown
Ocean / Reefs / Unknown
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Unknown
Ocean / Subtidal Marine / Unknown
Global Habitat Comments: Marine; open ocean, often near edge of continental shelf; also seas, gulfs, bays, and estuaries. Mainly pelagic, seldom approaching land except for nesting (Eckert 1992). Concentrates in summer in waters mostly 20-40 m deep near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Dives almost continuously, to depths of up to at least several thousand meters; may linger at the surface at midday but spends most of time submerged.

Nests on sloping sandy beaches backed up by vegetation, often near deep water and rough seas. Largest colonies use continental, rather than insular, beaches (CSTC 1990). Absence of a fringing reef appears to be important. Deposits eggs in moist sand. Individuals sometimes change to different nesting beach between nestings during a single year; changed to sites 30-110 km away in West Indies (Eckert et al. 1989; see also Keinath and Musick 1993). May rapidly occupy newly formed nesting habitat (Pritchard 1992).
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Principal food is jellyfish, though other invertebrates, fishes, and seaweed sometimes are eaten. Pelagic foraging may focus on jellyfish in the deep scattering layer (Eckert 1992).
Global Phenology:
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: Y
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 178/ / 544000
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: This circumglobal species generally forages in temperate waters and nests in tropical and subtropical latitudes on beaches of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Leatherbacks appear to spend the first portion of their lives entirely in tropical waters; those less than 100 cm in carapace length occur only in waters warmer than 26°C, whereas adults may venture to high latitude waters in summer (e.g., see Goff and Lien 1988, Eckert 2002) and occur occasionally in inshore waters.

Significant nesting areas include Malaysia (at least formerly), Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America, and Atlantic shore of northern South America. Largest population worldwide is in the western Atlantic (Spotila et al. 1996). In the Western Hemisphere, nesting also occurs in Florida (very rarely north to Georgia), along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, in the West Indies, and along the Atlantic shore of Central America and the Pacific shore of northern South America. In the western Caribbean, nesting is frequent from northern Costa Rica to Colombia and in eastern French Guiana and western Surinam. Some nesting occurs along the central Brazilian coast; important colonies are in northwestern Guyana and in Trinidad. In the Antilles, most nesting occurs in the Dominican Republic and on islands close to Puerto Rico, including Culebra and St. Croix (the largest, best-studied population in U.S. waters).

A general aggregation of leatherbacks is known to occur in the Pacific north of the Hawaiian Islands year-round, and in the Atlantic seasonal concentrations occur during the summer and fall months in the northeastern United States and Canada in areas such as Cape Cod Bay, the Gulf of Maine, the Scotian Shelf, and Cape Breton.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Apr 26, 2005
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
B.C. Ministry of Environment. Recovery Planning in BC. B.C. Minist. Environ. Victoria, BC.
Bjorndal, K. A., editor. 1982. Biology and conservation of sea turtles. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 583 pp.
Boulon, R. H., Jr., P. H. Dutton, and D. L. McDonald. 1996. Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: fifteen years of conservation. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):141-147.
Chan, E.-H. 1989. White spot development, incubation and hatching success of leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) eggs from Rantau Abang, Malaysia. Copeia 1989:42-47.
Chan, E.-H., and H.-C. Liew. 1996. Decline of the leatherback population in Terengganu, Malaysia, 1956-1995. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):196-203.
Chua, T. H. 1988. Nesting population and frequency of visits in Dermochelys coriacea in Malaysia. J. Herpetology 22:192-207.
Chua, T. H., and J. I. Furtado. 1988. Nesting frequency and clutch size in Dermochelys coriacea in Malaysia. J. Herpetology 22:208-218.
Committee on Sea Turtle Conservation (CSTC), National Research Council (U.S.). 1990. Decline of the Sea Turtles: Causes and Prevention. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. xv + 259 pp.
Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 450 pp.
COSEWIC. 2001. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
Ottawa. vii + 25 pp.
Eckert, K. L. 1987. Environmental unpredictability and leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nest loss. Herpetologica 43:315-323.
Eckert, K. L., and S. A. Eckert. 1988. Pre-reproductive movements of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in the Caribbean. Copeia 1988:400-406.
Eckert, K. L., and S. A. Eckert. 1989. The application of plastic tags to leatherback sea turtles, Dermochelys coriacea. Herpetol. Rev. 20:90-91.
Eckert, K.L., S.A. Eckert, T.W. Adams, and A.D. Tucker. 1989. Inter-nesting migrations by leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the West Indies. Herpetologica 45:190-194.
Eckert, S. A. 1992. Bound for deep water. Natural History, March 1992, pp. 28-35.
Ernst, C. H., and R. W. Barbour. 1972. Turtles of the United States. Univ. Press of Kentucky, Lexington. x + 347 pp.
Ernst, C. H., and R. W. Barbour. 1989a. Turtles of the world. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xii + 313 pp.
Ernst, C. H., R. W. Barbour, and J. E. Lovich. 1994. Turtles of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xxxviii + 578 pp.
Frazer, N. B. 1992. Sea turtle conservation and halfway technology. Conservation Biology 6:179-184.
Fritts, T. H., W. Hoffman, and M. A. McGehee. 1983. The distribution and abundance of marine turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and nearby Atlantic waters. J. Herpetology 17:327-344.
Goff, G. P., and J. Lien. 1988. Atlantic leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, in cold water off New Foundland and Labrador. Canadian Field-Naturalist 102:1-5.
Gregory, P.T., and R.W. Campbell. 1984. The Reptiles of British Columbia. Royal B.C. Mus. Handb. 102pp.
Iverson, J. B. 1991c. Patterns of survivorship in turtles (order Testudines). Canadian J. Zoology 69:385-391.
King, F. W., and R. L. Burke, editors. 1989. Crocodilian, tuatara, and turtle species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Association of Systematics Collections, Washington, D.C. 216 pp.
Lazell, J.D., Jr. 1980. New England waters: critical habitat for marine turtles. Copeia 1980:290-295.
Marine Turtle Recovery Team. 1984. Recovery plan for marine turtles (loggerhead turtle, green turtle, leatherbackturtle, hawksbill turtle, and Kemp's ridley turtle). Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv. and U.S. Fish and Wildife Service 363 pp.
Matthews, J.R. and C.J. Moseley (eds.). 1990. The Official World Wildlife Fund Guide to Endangered Species of North America. Volume 1. Plants, Mammals. xxiii + pp 1-560 + 33 pp. appendix + 6 pp. glossary + 16 pp. index. Volume 2. Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fishes, Mussels, Crustaceans, Snails, Insects, and Arachnids. xiii + pp. 561-1180. Beacham Publications, Inc., Washington, D.C.
McDonald, D. L., and P. H. Dutton. 1996. Use of PIT tags and photoidentification to revise remigration estimates of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, 1979-1995. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):148-152.
McKeown, S. 1978. Hawaiian reptiles and amphibians. Oriental Pub. Co., Honolulu. 80 pp.
Meylan, A., P. Meylan, and A. Ruiz. 1985. Nesting of Dermochelys coriacea in Caribbean Panama. J. Herpetology 19: 293-297.
Mitchell, J. C. 1991. Amphibians and reptiles. Pages 411-76 in K. Terwilliger (coordinator). Virginia's Endangered Species: Proceedings of a Symposium. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Morreale, S. J., E. A. Standora, J. R. Spotila, and F. V. Paladino. 1996. Migration corridor for sea turtles. Nature 384:319-320.
Mrosovsky, N., and M. Benabib. 1990. An assessment of two methods of sexing hatchling sea turtles. Copeia 1990:589-591.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1995. Status reviews for sea turtles listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, Maryland. vi + 139 pp.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 1993d. Sea turtle conservation; shrimp trawling requirements. Federal Register 58(158):43820-. 18 August 1993.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 1993e. Sea turtle conservation; shrimp trawling requirements. Federal Register 58(181):48975-48978. 21 September 1993.
Pritchard, P. C. H. 1980. Dermochelys coriacea. Cat. Am. Amph. Rep. 238.1-238.4.
Pritchard, P. C. H. 1992. Leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli). Pages 214-218 in P. E. Moler, editor. Rare and endangered biota of Florida. Vol. III. Amphibians and reptiles. Univ. Press of Florida.
Pritchard, P. C. H. 1996. Are leatherbacks really threatened with extinction? Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):303-305.
Pritchard, P. C. H., and P. Trebbau. 1984. Turtles of Venezuela. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 403 pp.
Shoop, C. R., and R. D. Kenney. 1992. Seasonal distributions and abundances of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles in waters of the northeastern United States. Herpetology Monongraphs 6:43-67.
Spotila, J. R., A. E. Dunham, A. J. Leslie, A. C. Steyermark, P. T. Plotkin, and F. V. Paladino. 1996. Worldwide population decline of Dermochelys coriacea: are leatherback turtles going extinct? Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):209-222.
Suarez, A., and C. H. Starbird. 1996. Subsistence hunting of leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, in the Kai Islands, Indonesia. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):190-195.
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Tucker, A. D., and N. B. Frazer. 1991. Reproductive variation in leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, at Culebra National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico. Herpetologica 47:115-124.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1980. Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States-- leatherback sea turtle. FWS/OBS-80/01.12.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1990. Endangered and threatened species recovery program: report to Congress. 406 pp.
Van Meter, V. B. 1983. Florida's sea turtles. Florida Power & Light Company, Miami. 46 pp.
Zug, G. R., and J. F. Parham. 1996. Age and growth in leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea (Testudines: Dermochelyidae): a skeletochronological analysis. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(2):244-249.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2005. Species Summary: Dermochelys coriacea. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 13, 2026).