Turtles

Leatherback turtle

Dermochelys coriacea

The largest sea turtle on Earth is a soft-shelled, deep-diving jellyfish hunter that can cross whole oceans between tropical nesting beaches and distant feeding grounds.

VulnerableIn 76 Atlas countries

Vulnerable (IUCN, 2013) means it is at high risk of extinction in the wild. Several populations, for example in the East and West Pacific, are Critically Endangered.

Leatherback hatchling crossing the sand toward the sea — Photo: Max Gotts on Unsplash

Leatherback turtle feeding on a jellyfish in green coastal water — Photo: Andre Hosper, iNaturalist, CC BY

Nesting leatherback turtle on a tropical beach at dusk — Photo: Julien Renoult, iNaturalist, CC BY

Leatherback turtle crawling back to the sea after nesting — Photo: novvictan, iNaturalist, CC BY

Leatherback turtle digging a nest in soft sand — Photo: Kristof Zyskowski, iNaturalist, CC BY

Leatherback hatchling crawling across sand toward the sea — Photo: Bill Levine, iNaturalist, CC BY

Leatherback hatchling on dark volcanic sand — Photo: Chris Quirin, iNaturalist, CC BY

Leatherback turtle seen from behind while nesting — Photo: Kristof Zyskowski, iNaturalist, CC BY

Photos show the species, not always the places on this page.

Length

Shell usually about 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 ft) long; some are larger

Weight

Usually about 340 to 454 kg (750 to 1,000 lb); some are larger

Next to a person

Bigger than a person lying down

What it eats

Mainly jellyfish, salps and other soft, jelly-like animals.

Around people

Calm, give space

How it lives

The leatherback is the largest sea turtle. Instead of hard plates, it has a soft, ridged shell. It wanders the open ocean and can dive to about 1,200 m (4,000 ft), feeding on jellyfish and other jelly-like animals. It nests on tropical beaches, but many feed in cooler water far away.

Where it goes

Western Pacific leatherbacks that nest in the northern summer cross the Pacific to feed in the California Current off the U.S. West Coast, a trip of 10 to 12 months, while winter nesters go south instead. Leatherbacks tagged off Nova Scotia, Canada, have been tracked to nesting beaches in the Caribbean. Migration routes and nesting times are very different from one ocean basin to another.

Populations

Leatherbacks are listed as Vulnerable worldwide, but status differs a lot by region: the East Pacific, West Pacific, Southwest Atlantic and Southwest Indian Ocean subpopulations are Critically Endangered, and the Northwest Atlantic is Endangered. Nesting in the Eastern Pacific, in Mexico and Costa Rica, has fallen by over 90 percent in three generations, and in the Western Pacific by over 80 percent. Two beaches in Bird's Head, Papua, Indonesia, hold an estimated 50 to 75% of West Pacific nesting. In Malaysia, nests fell from about 10,000 in 1953 to one or two a year since 2003.

Meet it respectfully

Look only, and never touch, chase, crowd or block a turtle. On a nesting beach, go only with a licensed local guide, keep the beach dark with no white light or flash, and stay behind the turtle while she nests. Rules for lights, guides and distance change from place to place, so we always follow the local ones.

Fun fact

Tap the bulb to light it up.

Where it goes

Follow its journey

Watch it travel. Every line comes from satellite tracking or documented research, and the source is named.

StartEndJourney (the line joins documented areas; real paths vary)

Where you may meet it

Leatherback turtle in the Ocean Atlas

Places we have researched where this animal is recorded. It is never guaranteed, and some places are for watching from the boat only.

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Sources for this page

Facts checked 26 September 2026. Photos: Unsplash licence, or Creative Commons as shown on each photo.

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