Well, I’ve been posting regularly here for nearly a week now, and rather than break the streak, I thought I’d at least cross-post an article from last month in Science Daily about Leatherback turtles. I’m still stuck on that book review. Maybe tomorrow… For more on the turtle race, visit National Geo’s website about the race. Of course, the race is no longer live; it finished earlier this month.
If you want to know more about Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), the best starting point is Archie Carr’s The Windward Road, the classic tale of the first marine biologist to take a serious interest in sea turtles. While many of the essays in that volume are devoted to the other sea turtles (Green, Loggerhead, “Oxbull” [Hawksbill], and Ridley), there are plenty of tales of the “trunkback.”
If you want a more up-to-date account, Carl Safina has written an excellent (but long) book, Voyage of the Sea Turtle, which has the captivating, but technically incorrect, subtitle “In Pursuit of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur.” Leatherbacks were contemporaries of, not members of, the Dinosauria. But small quibble; the book makes for excellent reading, and really helped my understanding of the intricate web of life in our oceans.
And, while you’re at it, be sure to celebrate International Turtle Day, May 23, 2009. (I missed International Save the Frog Day, April 28, 2009)