The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle, and the third largest living reptile, in the world.
It’s a docile beast, just swimming around all day and eating jellies, which are the entirety of its diet. And these turtles get so big because they are so well fed. You see, having a diet of incredibly slow moving jellies means that once the turtle gets a target, it scores a meal every time with a 100% success rate. (Imagine how big a lion would get if it were so successful!)
Via the Not Exactly Rocket Science blog:
The jellies aren’t particularly fast, so it takes just 22 seconds to catch up to one, and another minute to eat it. The turtles can swallow dozens in quick succession, and they leave nothing behind. The jellyfish may not be an especially nutritious meal, but none of it goes to waste.
…During the summer months, the turtles eat around 73 per cent of their own body weight every day, packing in around 16,000 calories. That’s around 3 to 7 times more than they actually need to survive.
This explains how these turtles can grow so giant on a diet of nothing but jelly and stinging tentacles.
There is simply no way for the jelly to outrun the turtle, so the leatherback is a jelly-eating machine. Little do you know, the evolutionary adaptation for keeping these doomed jellies from floating back out of their mouths during feeding is simply terrifying.
Backwards facing spines in the turtle's mouth keeps the ethereal jellies from escaping.
Leatherbacks consume everything from swarms of the smallest jellies to the most massive jellies in the sea like the Lion’s Mane Jelly (which for many is their primary prey). Either way, the spines catch these jellies on the way down, keeping a meal from escaping that often takes more than one bite or involves many small individuals.
A close up view of the jelly-killing spines
Good thing you’re not a jelly, right?
You can see that the spines continue all the way down the turtle's throat.
Learn much more about leatherback sea turtles here.
[Via Nature Wants to Eat You, Not Exactly Rocket Science, NOAA]
Holy shiza!!!
Sheisse* (or Scheiße)
I shan’t be sleeping for days now, thanks.
Anytime.
I just spat out my coffee reading the “anytime” comment. Hilarious.
This must have been edited out of Nemo. Damn you censors!
This is the part in Nemo where Crush saved Marlin and Dori that must’ve been deleted. Perhaps it’s in the director’s cut.
That lions mane jelly is enormous! Hard to believe that even a turtle of that size could consume one…
They consume them by the dozens!
I don’t even have 100% success with scoring meals, especially free ones. One for the turtles.
unfathomable.
Should’ve called it the leatherface turtle. That is one hideous mother.
you jelly?
This one of the living Dinosaurs who forgot to die.
All them teeth and no toothbrush
I have always thought they were amazing animals and this just confirmed my thoughts. I think it is beautiful in its own way. Isn’t it spectacular some of the answers evolution can come up with to natures challenges.
good thing your girlfriend is not a turtle haha
They should become carnivores. And I dont want to be his meal if ever.
they are carnivores, they eat jelly fish, they are made out of meet, just like every other animal on the planet. did you for some reason think they were a vegi?
Jellyfish are 95% water, 3-4% salts, and 1-2% protein, not “meet.” Also, I wouldn’t necessarily categorize these turtles as as much of a carnivorous type than of a piscivorous type.
Why would something that floats around all day eating jelly need to look so terrifying? Intelligent design my ass!
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Largest living reptile!!! Hardly; what about the crocs off north Queensland and those from the Nile?
You’re absolutely right, my mistake. Post corrected.
if you”re talking about length then yes you are correct about the crocs, but when it comes to over all mass these turtles beat out any croc that will come along, if you think i’m wrong then post a link to a site telling us about a croc that weighs 1500+ lbs cause i haven’t ever heard of one,i havae heard of one breaking the 1100lbs mark but that is the largest i have ever heard of a croc getting
“The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle, and the third largest living reptile, in the world.” Just thought I’d put that here, quote from the article, and Largest reptile would prob be green anaconda just saying
Nice post. Yet another reason I’m glad not to be a jellyfish.
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Thanks 4.5billion years of Evolution for giving us these turtles! Otherwise our Oceans would have been filled by Nomura’s and other disgusting creepy stinky jellyfishes! Heil for the leatherback sea turtle!
The most disgusting invasion after that of Homo Sapiens: http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/cstanton/archive/2009/07/02/giant-jellyfish-invading-japan.aspx
on the page you link to (thank you) it says: “the jellyfish are busy destroying fishing nets and capsizing trawlers and stinging fishermen.”
Why do I have the feeling that this a good thing for the oceanic eco-system?
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Reminds me of those annoying whipping spine enemies in Banjo Kazooie. I wonder if that’s where they got the idea?
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It’s the sarlacc!!! It escaped the Great Pit of Carkoon and is roaming the oceans. I’ll bet poor Boba Fett is still in there digesting too.
good lord that’s a big turtle. good thing red eared sliders only grow up to 12 inches. i have 1, Dumbork, and she’s only 3 inches. great blog!
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Awesome post. Lovely turtle
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