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Earlier this yr , the Western Pacific leatherback ( Dermochelys coriacea ) left a nesting website in the Solomon Islands and dive 4,409 feet ( 1,344 metre ) beneath the ocean surface , according to the environmental organization The Nature Conservancy .
At that astuteness , the leatherback turtle swam profoundly than the currentGuinness World Recordfor the deep turtle dive — 4,199 feet ( 1,280 m ) — go down by another leathery turtle , thedeepest - dive reptilespecies . For context , Navy sub havereportedly gone to depthsof around 2,950 feet ( 900 m ) , while thedeepest human scuba divewas 1,090 feet ( 332 megabyte ) .
A tagged leatherback heads out to sea after nesting in the Solomon Islands.
research worker record the dive as part of an on-going and as - yet - unpublished satellite trailing discipline to help protect leatherback turtle . Another of their tagged turtleneck swim across the entire Pacific Ocean . Peter Waldie , a maritime scientist who leads The Nature Conservancy ’s Solomon Islands Program , depict the deep prima donna and epic migration as " truly salient . "
" Leatherbacks are just an unbelievable fauna to have in the populace , " Waldie told Live Science . " The power to swim non - check all the way across the Pacific , to dive as deep as a Navy submarine on a single breath , it absolutely blows my mind . "
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The journey a leatherback called Aunty June took across the Pacific, from the Solomon Islands to just off the coast of Baja California in Mexico.
Live Science approach Guinness World Records about the raw claim for the deepest reptile dive . A spokesperson for the company said that the deepest nose dive by a turtle is one of their " consultant records , " which they work with specialist experts to aver — usually after a scientific publication .
" For data - driven science and nature records such as this case , we would generally wait for the findings to be reviewed and publish in a peer - reviewed journal before we consider it , " the spokesperson allege .
Leatherbacks have evolved avariety of adaptationsfor their deep dives . Even though they ’re air snorkel like us , leatherbacks can hold their breath for much longer and stay submerged for around 90 minute of arc at a fourth dimension . Their specialized shell ( upper shell ) also contracts and amplify with pressure changes to help them survive the baneful pressure of the deep .
Scientists have a few theories as to why leatherbacks dive so deep , buttracking researchhas argue they are swimming down to eat jellyfish , which move up and down the piddle pillar , Waldie said
leathery turtle spend most of their lives out at sea , but females briefly arrive onto shore to lay their eggs . The Solomon Islands ' nesting leatherbacks are part of the critically endangered Western Pacific population , comprising an figure 1,400 education adult , according to the Nature Conservancy .
" We have hit a point in conservation where we can not give to lose any of these creatures , " Waldie said . " Every individual breeding grownup is vital , and every nest we can save that protects the next genesis is vital . "
Since 2022 , Waldie and his colleagues have tagged 17 leatherbacks nestle in Isabel Province on the Solomon Islands , where The Nature Conservancy ’s localcommunity rangersprotect sea turtles and their eggs from poaching and predators .
The record - offend leatherback position her egg at the Sasakolo nesting beach . Staff named her " Uke Sasakolo , " mean " from Sasakolo . " She broke the current depth record on March 25 , not long after leaving the nesting reason , according to Waldie .
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Uke Sasakolo nested during the peak Solomon Islands nesting season , which go on between November and January . The tagged leatherbacks tended to then migrate south into southerly Australian and New Zealand waters , according to Waldie . But one homesteader that go far in June headed east .
" Aunty June , " as she was constitute , went flat across the Pacific and finish up in eating grounds just off the slide of Baja California in Mexico . Waldie hopes further research will sustain whether mid - year nesters like Aunty June commonly take this eastern migration path , while meridian season nesters like Uke Sasakolo head word south .
" We call them all the Western Pacific nesters , but we might find that these nesting subpopulations are heading to completely different forage areas , " he say .
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