turtles

A leatherback turtle on its way to feast along Oregon's shores is now known as the longest of the long-distance swimmers of the ocean world. The female turtle, known by its ID number -- 27957 -- swam at least 12,774 miles from the nesting beaches of Jamursba-Medi in Indonesia to the Oregon coast in 2003, and back out into the Pacific, according to a recent report of the marathon journey. That's more than four times the distance across the continental United States. It's a record for sea turtles, and the longest recorded migration of a swimming vertebrate species, scientists said. The turtle probably swam all the way back to Indonesia, but its tracking device failed before it got there. The epic migration highlights the long-distance ecological connections that stretch across oceans and countries, researchers said, illustrating how conditions in Oregon can influence turtle nesting on the warm beaches of Indonesia. What's so special about Oregon that a turtle would swim halfway around the Earth to get here? JELLYFISH! Leatherbacks are critically endangered and, though solitary travelers, gather along the West Coast to gorge themselves on jellyfish during the warmer months from about May to November. Scott Benson, a marine ecologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said that. He also noted that the turtles may retreat to warmer waters near Hawaii during the cooler months but return to Oregon again in the spring. They may spend a few years in this part of the Pacific, gobbling jellyfish and gaining strength for a long-distance swim back to the nesting grounds in Indonesia.