Leatherback turtles are the largest living turtle in the world with adults reaching up to 8 feet in length and weighing up to 2,000 pounds!

They have been around for 100 million years but are in danger of becoming extinct and have been listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Wildlife Service, critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and are listed on the World Wildlife’s endangered species.

The population of leatherback turtles living in the Pacific Ocean is the most threatened with a little over 2,000 females remaining making the Pacific leatherback turtle the “most endangered marine turtle in the world.”

The major threats to their survival are egg poaching, fishing nets and chemical pollution.

You may be thinking the same thing I did when I first read about the leatherbacks, which is “why is this particular species of turtle so important to the world’s ecological balance?” Leatherback turtles help support the fish population in the oceans because they are a major predator of jellyfish. Jellyfish feed on fish larvae which means an overabundance of jellyfish would likely negatively impact fish populations.

One easy way you can help is create awareness of the problem, especially for the Pacific leatherback which faces extinction in as little as 10 years if nothing is done to help protect it and its habitat. Sign the petition at tree-nation. Once 10,000 signatures are received, tree nation will forward the petition to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president of Indonesia.

To learn more about the leatherback sea turtle and what is currently being done to help save it, click here to visit the Costa Rica Turtles website.