So it is hard to accurately measure their life span over this long period of time. Turtles in general have a long life span. Nearly 900 sea turtles were visibly covered in oil as a result of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill during the Spring and Summer of 2010. Leatherback Sea Turtle Dermochelys coriacea. The fat of green sea turtles, boiled with cartilage, made a popular soup called calipee, which led to the decline in green sea turtle population numbers. Range and Distribution Leatherbacks are found in the tropic and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Created Date: Sea Turtle Migration facts. Length: 5-6 feet; record is 9 feet. Now a new survey shows that leatherbacks that forage off the U.S. West Coast are trending towards extinction in as little as a few decades.. Discover How Long Leatherback turtle Lives. A more recent threat to sea turtles is oil spills. They can grow to over six feet in length and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Weight: 650-1,200 pounds. But it's difficult to know exactly how long sea turtles can live. Flipper span is enormous, about 9 feet on a 7-foot turtle. Leatherback turtles propel through the water using their powerful front flippers (which can span up to a massive 2.7m), while their rear flippers help steer them, a bit like the rudder of a boat. The leatherback sea turtle one of the largest living reptiles (the saltwater crocodile is generally considered the largest) and the largest species of sea turtles. Enormous Pacific leatherback turtles are so ancient they lived with the dinosaurs. The largest sea turtle ever found was a male leatherback that washed up on the coast of Wales in 1988—the specimen weighed about 2,000 pounds (907 kg). In northern waters, it may enter shallow estuarine bays. Leatherback sea turtles are among the most highly migratory animals on earth, traveling as many as 10,000 miles or more each year between foraging grounds in search of jellyfish. Life Expectancy: Actual documentation of age is rare. The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world. Habitat: Found near the edge of the continental shelf. The biggest, deepest-diving, widest-ranging of all turtles, the leatherback has endured for 100 million years. Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Age of Species: Unknown for sure – lineage arose between 90 – 100 million years ago Average Lifespan: 45 years OUR DATA: We use the most recent data from these primary sources: AnAge, UMICH, Max Planck, PanTHERIA, Arkive, UKC, AKC. These endangered turtles are the largest living turtles, weighing up to 1,500 pounds. The most consistent estimate is about 80 years. Their life span is often longer than most research projects. The largest sea turtle species, a leatherback’s carapace can measure 4.3 to 6 feet (1.3 to 1.8 m) in length and the turtle can weigh from 500 to 1,100 pounds (227 to 500 kg). In the Atlantic, they go from Caribbean beaches up the US East Coast to Canada. ... Average life span is 45 years in the wild.