Ecowatch: Protect the beaches, protect the leatherback's future

While leatherbacks might be able to tolerate warming oceans as the planet heats up, the increased temperature affects their food supply, posing a potential threat to their survival. — EMILIE LEDWIDGE/Ocean Image Bank

WHILE natal homing – when an animal returns to the place where it was born to reproduce – is a well-documented biological characteristic of sea turtles, these animals are not completely fixed to a single nesting beach, says WWF-Malaysia.

Spokesman Gavin Jolis, who is the East Coast Peninsular Malaysia Seascape and Marine Species manager, explains there is evidence that females can establish or shift to nearby nesting sites, particularly if their original nesting habitat has been degraded or lost due to unsustainable coastal development and other pressures.