Leatherback Sea Turtles Mating off the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica

Globally, the leatherback sea turtle is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened species (Wallace et al. 2013). The research vessel left the area at 7:42 h. Another research vessel conducting dolphin surveys also observed a single adult leatherback sea turtle, offshore of Gandoca beach (9° 35' N and 82° 36'W) on the same day (L. May Collado & M. Austin, pers. comm.). A better understanding of the cooccurrence between leatherback sea turtles and human activities, particularly fisheries, would also be important to potentially mitigate impacts on this endangered species.