HOME | DD

Description
Here is the 85th page of my Explorer's Notebook for the Animal of the Month Event at : the Leatherback Sea Turtle!

This beautiful and peaceful sea giant (also called lute turtle, because of its shape with the 7 lines that remind of the strings on it) lives almost all around the world, as you can see on my little map... It's the largest living turtle and the largest non-crocodile reptile... they have, like their name says, no shell made of bone-like structure, like other turtles, but a soft, leathery skin... They are well-adapted to rapidly changing temperature, thanks to flipper muscles that work independently from temperature and heat exchanging cells in their front flippers and body...
They don't have teeth, but this interesting set of points on their lips (you can see it very well on this photo Amazing Facts about the Leatherback Sea Turtle | OneKindPlanet Animals ) and a few spikes in their throat so the food can move just one way... They eat mostly jellyfish, sometimes algae and small fish, too...
They are known to dive as deep as 1000 meters, which is very, very deep for a non-fish animal.. in fact, only sperm whales and beaked whales dive deeper... We don't know much about their lifespan, some biologists think it's "about 35 to 40 years" while some other ones say "about 100 years"...
They're considered as endangered or vulnerable, depending on the studies, mostly because they mistake plastic for jellyfish or because they are disturbed by human lights... (light pollution is a problem that bothers me a lot, I mean, lampposts are good for security in cities and towns, but why the *** do companies that are closed at night need to light up the whole world with big neon signs??). In some countries, people even eat turtle eggs, which is kind of a not-very-smart move, since Leatherback Sea Turtles keep the jellyfish population in check, jellyfish that normally eats a lot of the baby fishes that would, normally, grow to be caught and eaten by humans...
Adult Leatherback Sea Turtles migrate a lot, across the whole Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, ... the males spend all their lives at sea, while the females go to some beaches (unlike other sea turtles, Leatherbacks don't go back to the exact same beach, but rather in the same region) to lay their eggs, once every 2 or 3 years...
You can learn more about it here: Leatherback sea turtle - Wikipedia

About the drawing: I really had fun with this one, especially with the white markings... the body shape was surprisingly difficult to get, I needed a few tries... I'm happy with how friendly she looks to me (I've decided it's a girl... don't ask me why, I don't know )

made with:
Faber Castell Pitt black markers
Various colored pencils

Last "Animals of the Month":

Description
Here is the 85th page of my Explorer's Notebook for the Animal of the Month Event at : the Leatherback Sea Turtle!

This beautiful and peaceful sea giant (also called lute turtle, because of its shape with the 7 lines that remind of the strings on it) lives almost all around the world, as you can see on my little map... It's the largest living turtle and the largest non-crocodile reptile... they have, like their name says, no shell made of bone-like structure, like other turtles, but a soft, leathery skin... They are well-adapted to rapidly changing temperature, thanks to flipper muscles that work independently from temperature and heat exchanging cells in their front flippers and body...
They don't have teeth, but this interesting set of points on their lips (you can see it very well on this photo Amazing Facts about the Leatherback Sea Turtle | OneKindPlanet Animals ) and a few spikes in their throat so the food can move just one way... They eat mostly jellyfish, sometimes algae and small fish, too...
They are known to dive as deep as 1000 meters, which is very, very deep for a non-fish animal.. in fact, only sperm whales and beaked whales dive deeper... We don't know much about their lifespan, some biologists think it's "about 35 to 40 years" while some other ones say "about 100 years"...
They're considered as endangered or vulnerable, depending on the studies, mostly because they mistake plastic for jellyfish or because they are disturbed by human lights... (light pollution is a problem that bothers me a lot, I mean, lampposts are good for security in cities and towns, but why the *** do companies that are closed at night need to light up the whole world with big neon signs??). In some countries, people even eat turtle eggs, which is kind of a not-very-smart move, since Leatherback Sea Turtles keep the jellyfish population in check, jellyfish that normally eats a lot of the baby fishes that would, normally, grow to be caught and eaten by humans...
Adult Leatherback Sea Turtles migrate a lot, across the whole Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, ... the males spend all their lives at sea, while the females go to some beaches (unlike other sea turtles, Leatherbacks don't go back to the exact same beach, but rather in the same region) to lay their eggs, once every 2 or 3 years...
You can learn more about it here: Leatherback sea turtle - Wikipedia

About the drawing: I really had fun with this one, especially with the white markings... the body shape was surprisingly difficult to get, I needed a few tries... I'm happy with how friendly she looks to me (I've decided it's a girl... don't ask me why, I don't know )

made with:
Faber Castell Pitt black markers
Various colored pencils

Last "Animals of the Month":