100 million year dream

Unlike the massive, overhanging shell of other sea turtles, the leatherback's flexible, formfitting carapace merges almost seamlessly with its thick neck and muscular shoulders. Seven ridges run the length of the shell—adaptations, perhaps, for smoothing and directing the flow of water. The turtle's head is a prow; the carapace tapers toward the back like a teardrop.

The leatherback also propels itself with an efficiency no other sea turtle can match. All sea turtles can fly through the water by flapping their flippers vertically, generating thrust on both the upstroke and the down. But while other species sometimes shift to a less efficient paddling motion, the leatherback uses its longer flippers exclusively as wings. "It's almost pure underwater flight," says Jeanette Wyneken, who has analyzed leatherback swimming with high-speed video.

-- from Ancient Mariner, a feature by Tim Appenzeller which reports that Atlantic populations seems to be making something of a recovery. Great if that continues. What I saw in the East Papua nearly three years ago suggested a bleaker picture for many nesting populations in the Western Pacific.

Here's a bright note from the Great Turtle Race.

P.S. 18 May: and there appears to be good news from Gabon, with the discovery of large colony there.

Mis-framing

Ashdenizen recalls Anton Chekhov's observation: "it is not the artist's job to solve society's problems, but to state them correctly."

And one could think of a more constructive way to frame some interesting science than with this:

Could sea turtles help us design better helmets and body armor for soldiers?

Sorcerer's apprentice syndrome

Poor Mickey Mouse found out that every time he chopped up one of his magic brooms, the problem doubled as each half sprouted new legs and continued its duties.

Palaeontologists everywhere can sympathise with Mickey's plight. When a seemingly large evolutionary gap is plugged with a remarkable new fossil, as happened just the other day with the discovery of a new primitive turtle from the Triassic, it just leaves two smaller gaps on either side. Now, instead of one gap in the fossil record there are two, and Creationists argue that the fossil record is, paradoxically, even worse than it was before the new discovery.

-- from $7.5 trillion for a 'transitional' fossil? by Colin Barras

21st century turtles

A small story from early September:

More than 10 live Hawksbill and Green turtles of different sizes were found in the reservoir tank of Pars Petrochemical Zone [continues...]

(image: Turtles can fly)

Bombs

Deep Sea News notes that the practice of "dynamite" or "bomb" fishing has spread recently to Central America. Seven hawksbill turtles are said to have been blasted to death in the Biosphere Reserve of the Bahia de Jiquilisco, El Salvador

Turtles - who needs them?

Some turtles sightings in English language media include a BBC report about an increase in UK strandings, and a dotearth post on the second Pacific Ocean Great Turtle Race.

The GTR's cartoon caricatures are not to everyone's taste ('fun', not dignity), but the site has a good intro to Leatherbacks (go to the 'sea turtle school' tab).

A good source of information for the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia is ioseaturtles.org - including the introductory film.

Some of the sharpest commentary from Wallace Nichols, which includes a link to a paper with a vision for restoration.

[see also 100 million years and death, At loggerheads and So excellent a fishe]

Hell for Leatherbacks

The [U.S.] Center for Biological Diversity is asking people to oppose the resumption of long line fishing in the waters off California and Oregon because of concern about its impact on endangered leatherback turtles. The deadline is 27 May.