Female leatherback turtles usually nest from April to November on sand beaches close to the equator. Current nesting activity is centred in South America, with the largest nesting colony in French Guiana. Unfortunately, due to a severe decline over the past two decades, the world population of breeding females is now estimated at fewer than 35,000 turtles and the leatherback is endangered across its range. Leatherback turtles are regularly sighted in the waters off Nova Scotia in late summer and fall. Leatherback turtles are an important component of the marine Environment and their presence around Nova Scotia may indicate the health of harvested ecosystems.
Leatherback turtles are in peril wherever they are found.
Significant losses of adults arise from incidental drowning in fishing gear. In the southern part of their range, leatherback populations are threatened by development of nesting beaches and nest loss due to beach erosion, predation by animals and poaching of adults and eggs for human consumption. Very little is known about leatherhack turtles or the reasons for their presence in the North Atlantic. We don't know how long leatherbacks live, how old they are when they start to reproduce, their migration routes or how many migrate seasonally to the North Atlantic. A Leatherback Turtle Working Group of maritime universities, museums and other institutions has been established to help answer some of these questions.