 Leatherback sea turtles have been traveling the world's oceans for over 100 million years. Their unique teardrop-shaped bodies and long powerful front flippers are built for swimming long distances and diving to great depths. They can grow to be true giants weighing in as much as 900 kilograms and up to two meters long. Leatherbacks spend their whole adult lives in the ocean. Except for mature females when they haul their large bodies ashore on warm sandy beaches every two to three years to lay their eggs. When the turtles arrive on shore, females dig a deep nest cavity using just their flippers before laying about 80 eggs, covering them and returning to the sea. It is estimated that only one out of 1,000 eggs will survive to be healthy adult turtles. Leatherbacks are highly migratory animals, which means they travel long distances. In the Atlantic Ocean, adult and sub-adult leatherback sea turtles move between the warm waters off Central and South America, the Caribbean and Florida in the winter where they feed and reproduce to temperate waters off Atlantic Canada in the late spring through fall. Jellyfish are founded high concentrations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence throughout the summer and fall. Because of the currents around Nova Scotia and through the Gulf. While in Atlantic Canadian waters, leatherbacks love to eat jellyfish, eating more than their body weight in a single day. This helps to keep jellyfish populations from getting too big. Leatherback turtles are an endangered species in Canada. Accidental capture and getting tangled in fishing gear like trawls, long lines and gillnets are major threats to sea turtles. One way you can help to protect sea turtles is by using less plastic. Plastic bags can resemble jellyfish and leatherbacks might mistake them for food. Bags and other plastic waste has been found in their digestive tracts, which can harm or even kill the turtles. If you see a leatherback sea turtle in Atlantic Canada, please report the sighting to your region's sea turtle network or Coast Guard. We can all play an important role in keeping these prehistoric giants safe.