{"id":8519,"date":"2011-03-28T14:55:36","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T19:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=8519"},"modified":"2011-03-28T14:55:36","modified_gmt":"2011-03-28T19:55:36","slug":"here-come-the-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=8519","title":{"rendered":"Here Come the Giants!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"leviathan<\/a><\/p>\n

Return of the Leviathans!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Each spring brings the return of giant leatherback sea turtles to Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts.\u00c2\u00a0 These massive sea turtles, an anachronistic relic of prehistoric times and the most massive living reptile on Planet Earth, are a globally endangered species listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.\u00c2\u00a0 Adults can reach more than 8 feet in length and 2000 pounds in weight.\u00c2\u00a0 According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The leatherback is the largest, deepest diving, and most migratory and wide ranging of all sea turtles.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"leviathan<\/a><\/p>\n

Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leatherbacks achieve this massive size by feasting on a diet almost exclusively composed of jellyfish.\u00c2\u00a0 They follow jellyfish blooms across the Seven Seas.\u00c2\u00a0 In Buzzards Bay, the attractive prey that entices leatherbacks to return each year is lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata<\/em>).\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"lions<\/a><\/p>\n

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So, each spring the Turtle Journal team watches the shores of Buzzards Bay for the first appearance of a lion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mane bloom, which presages the arrival of our favorite leviathans.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, ten days later than last year, the first lion’s manes appeared along Silvershell Beach in Marion.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that Buzzards Bay is filling with lion’s mane jellyfish, we can anticipate the arrival of the season’s first repitilian leviathans in a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n

\"lions<\/a><\/p>\n

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish in Buzzards Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If jellyfish are the breakfast, lunch and dinner of these\u00c2\u00a0giants, how are leatherback sea turtles configured to exploit this\u00c2\u00a0unusual diet to gain such massive sizes?\u00c2\u00a0 Since jellyfish congregate in patches amidst the\u00c2\u00a0vast empty distances of the oceans, how can leatherbacks take advantage of a good spot when it comes along in their pelagic journeys?<\/p>\n

\"LB-083-mouth-closeup-480\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mouth of a Leatherback Sea Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Look at the the enormous mouth of the leatherback sea turtle and\u00c2\u00a0its\u00c2\u00a0specilized esophagus lined with\u00c2\u00a0long, downward pointing spikes.\u00c2\u00a0 For a jellyfish, and anything else that enters, the leatherback GI system is a one way journey downward.\u00c2\u00a0 When a leatherback runs into a patch of jellyfish it gorges itself, filling its mouth, esophagus, stomach and intestines with a bulging mass of food.\u00c2\u00a0 Another interesting anatomical feature of the leatherback is its enormous liver which processes the generous supply of\u00c2\u00a0toxins that it consumes from its jellyfish prey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return of the Leviathans! Each spring brings the return of giant leatherback sea turtles to Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts.\u00c2\u00a0 These massive sea turtles, an anachronistic relic of prehistoric times and the most massive living reptile on Planet Earth, are a globally endangered species listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.\u00c2\u00a0 Adults can reach more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[824,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8519"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8557,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8519\/revisions\/8557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}