He believes leatherbacks in the Atlantic may make annual migrations to the fish-rich waters off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, but such theories are difficult to verify without following the giant turtles. But the giants, who can reach 700 pounds, spend most of their time far from land, cruising the world's oceans. They feed primarily on jellyfish and may swim as many as 6,000 miles a year. Until Eckert started following leatherbacks with satellite-tracking devices, no one knew for sure where they went after nesting. The turtles become tangled in the nets and fishing lines and drown.
Similar problems exist in the Atlantic.
US-based shrimp trawlers are equipped with a special escape hatch in their nets that allows loggerhead and green turtles to escape. But the much larger leatherbacks are too big to fit through the hatch and are drawn into the nets. Eckert hopes that his research will provide enough information about migration patterns and habitat to enable scientists to predict leatherbacks' presence in commercial fishing waters. Such knowledge could lead to warning fishermen of the presence of turtles, or even closing certain areas of ocean to fishing to avoid turtle encounters. I don't know a single fisherman out there who wants to catch sea turtles.