After such an exciting end to our week last week, our single turtle encounter last night was quite a drastic change! The single turtle was Rikki, a leatherback that was first tagged in Cape Canaveral, FL by a fellow biologist in 2003. She was seen nesting again in 2005, 2009, and 2011 on Juno Beach. Since LMC’s researchers last saw Rikki, she grew in length slightly. It’s incredible that leatherback turtles can grow to be over 5 feet in length considering their diet. Leatherback turtles feed almost exclusively on jellyfish, which are about 95% water! Can you imagine how many jellyfish one leatherback needs to eat to grow to be 5 feet long? That’s a lot of jellies!
Stay tuned for more updates from the field!