Are Leatherback Turtles Going Extinct?
– James R. Spotila, Arthur E. Dunham, Alison J. Leslie, Anthony C. Steyermark, Pamela T. Plotkin, and Frank V. Paladino ABSTRACT – We estimated the number of leatherbacks, Dermochelys coriacea, nesting on 28 beaches throughout the world from the literature and from communications with investigators studying those beaches. The estimated worldwide population of leatherbacks in 1995 was about 34,500 females on these beaches with a lower limit of about 26,200 and an upper limit of about 42,900. This is less than one third the 1980 estimate of 115,000. Leatherbacks are rare in the Indian Ocean and in very low numbers in the western Pacific Ocean. The largest population is in the western Atlantic. We used an age-based demographic model to answer “what if?” questions about the stability of leatherback populations. We formulated a hypothetical life table model based on estimated ages of sexual maturity at 5 or 15 years. Leatherbacks that mature in 5 years would exhibit much greater population
