Giant sea turtle is official Calif. marine reptile
Updated: 5:44 PM PDT Sep 26, 2012
A baby leatherback sea turtle is seen.
Californians, meet your new state marine reptile: It treks across the ocean each year, has white spots, and eats its weight in jellyfish.Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he has signed legislation granting the official status to the Pacific leatherback sea turtle.Environmentalists hope the honor will help the world's largest sea turtle avoid the fate of the official state animal, the now-extinct California grizzly bear.PHOTOS: Sea animals at the Monterey Bay AquariumLeatherbacks range from waters off San Diego to as far north as Washington state. They are the most common species of sea turtle in the Monterey Bay because their thick skin protects them in chilly water temperatures. Leatherback sea turtles can grow up to 8 feet long and weigh as much as three grand pianos."These reptilian relics are the only remaining representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100 million years," according to National Geographic.But their population, estimated at roughly 2,000 nesting females, has fallen by 90 percent in recent decades.AB1776, by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Fong of Mountain View, also designates each Oct. 15 as Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle Conservation Day.
MONTEREY, Calif. —
Californians, meet your new state marine reptile: It treks across the ocean each year, has white spots, and eats its weight in jellyfish.
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he has signed legislation granting the official status to the Pacific leatherback sea turtle.
Environmentalists hope the honor will help the world's largest sea turtle avoid the fate of the official state animal, the now-extinct California grizzly bear.
PHOTOS: Sea animals at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Leatherbacks range from waters off San Diego to as far north as Washington state. They are the most common species of sea turtle in the Monterey Bay because their thick skin protects them in chilly water temperatures.
Leatherback sea turtles can grow up to 8 feet long and weigh as much as three grand pianos.
"These reptilian relics are the only remaining representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100 million years," according to National Geographic.
But their population, estimated at roughly 2,000 nesting females, has fallen by 90 percent in recent decades.
AB1776, by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Fong of Mountain View, also designates each Oct. 15 as Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle Conservation Day.