Leatherbacks are enormous. Some grow up to two metres long and weigh as much as 700 kilograms – that is heavier than a racehorse! Despite their size, they are graceful swimmers and travel thousands of kilometres across the ocean every year, following jellyfish – their favourite food.
Female leatherbacks return to the very same beach where they were born when it is time to lay their eggs. Scientists believe they navigate using the Earth's magnetic field, like a built-in compass, to find their way back across entire oceans. A female may lay eggs on the same beach dozens of times over her long life.
On nesting nights, a female pulls herself up the beach, digs a deep hole with her back flippers and lays around 80 eggs, each the size of a billiard ball. She then carefully covers the nest with sand and heads back to sea. Six to eight weeks later, tiny hatchlings dig their way out of the sand – usually at night – and race towards the ocean.
Gabon protects leatherback turtles very seriously. Rangers patrol the beaches during nesting season to count nests and keep them safe. Because Gabon has preserved its beaches, the leatherback population there is one of the healthiest in the world.