Home > Illustration > Wildlife > Reptiles > Turtles > Sea Turtles > Leatherback Sea Turtle

Leatherback Sea Turtle

Leatherback Sea Turtle line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Leatherback Sea Turtle full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Leatherback Sea Turtle was completed on 9.8.09. I had searched for a long time for some good reference photos of these impressive reptiles. Most images are of the turtles on the beach laying eggs. And of course most of the animal is hidden by sand. But recently I found some good images and was able to work up this illustration. The drawing is based on a photo by Jason Isley

Information about the Leatherback Sea Turtle:

The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest living reptile in the world. Adults can grow up to nearly 6.5 feet (2 meters) and weighing over 2000 pounds (900 kilograms.) Unlike all other sea turtles, the Leatherback carapace consists of leathery, oil saturated tissue overlaying loosely interlocking dermal bones, whereas the other sea turtles of the world shell's are hard and bony. These animals are critically endangered and there are many active conservation projects to help protect them.