Although you may not even have known it exists the leatherback sea turtle probably is the most amazing animal on the planet. It is one of only six remaining species of marine turtle, and uncounted eons in the past its predecessors walked the earth on four legs. About 110,000,000 ago, its legs and feet developed into massive flippers and it began to populate the Seven Seas, before there were Seven Seas.

The world was a very different place way back then. The Himalayas of Tibet did not exist that long ago. Indeed, the Himalayas were still 65,000,000 years away from even existing. Antarctica was joined to Australia when the earliest leatherbacks took to the sea and would not uncouple from it for about thirty million more generations of these sea animals. South America was close to West Antarctica. Another eighty million years would go by before Antarctica would turn into the frigid continent we see. The South Atlantic Ocean was still forming. Indeed, not only were there no Seven Seas way back then, there were not seven continents, either.

When the ancestors of today’s leatherbacks turned to the ocean, there were no birds in the sky, no lions, tigers, or buffaloes because there were no mammals at all on earth. The mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex would not walk the planet for about four hundred thousand centuries more. Yes, that is right: 400,000 centuries.

The other animal that used to be terrestrial but now is found in the oceans. It is the whale. But, porpoises and whales are Johnny-come-lately. Sea turtles had made the transition from land to sea for fifty million years before these mighty mammals left land for the oceans.

Of the six sea turtle species remaining, these are by far the Mothers of All Turtles. They sometimes weigh nearly a ton. A few years ago one caught in Wales tipped the scales at 1,980 pounds. And, despite its impressive size, this ocean traveling reptile lived through the terrible and extraordinary catastrophic extinction that killed nearly every animal on earth. One of the oldest and most resilient animals on the face of the globe, it is clearly qualified for the “most amazing animal” award but there is more to this animal—much more.

One of the most famous sporting accomplishments in history was Michael Phelps’ world record freestyle win in the 2008 China Olympics. But, had he swum that race against a leatherback, the turtle would have gone 1,000 meters—800 meters farther than Phelps. This sea turtle is so fast that it has made the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest reptile on earth!

These extraordinary animals may also be the world’s greatest long-distance swimmers. Researchers followed one of these giants 13,000 miles—and that was only one way.

Amazed? Hold on, there is more. Besides being the world’s fastest reptile and maybe the world’s greatest long-distance marathon swimmer, it regularly does something the human race cannot achieve, even with its fancy technology. It can dive nearly 4,000 feet deep in the ocean. At that depth pressure approaches two thousand pounds per square inch. How much pressure is that? Well, it has been estimated that today’s best nuclear attack submarines would crush at about 2,400 feet. Even the world’s strongest materials are no match for the diving ability of a one hundred million year old race of creatures we think of as primitive.

Leatherbacks are found in all tropical and subtropical waters on earth and have been seen as far north as the Arctic Circle, in Alaska, not far from Quebec, and even Norway, and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope and below New Zealand, in waters as cold as 40 degrees fahrenheit. Yet, even though they are, like all reptiles, cold blooded, they remain toasty warm because they can maintain a body temperature as much as 32 degrees higher than the surrounding water.

Unfortunately, in only about twenty five years, one arrogant species has brought this magnificent animal to the brink of extinction. It has become so rare that it is classified as critically endangered. By 2005, the Mexican population of leatherbacks had been reduced to just one percent of what it had been in 1980, a conservation catastrophe by any measure. On beaches in Malaysia that once had 10,000 leatherback nests a year, 2008 produced only two nests. Somewhere, the Angels weep at Man’s stupidity, greed, and over exploitation and destruction.

Today, more than 100 countries and hundreds of conservation groups are fighting to stem the decline of this magnificent race but it remains to be seen if this most ancient of all creatures can survive your generation and mine.

If you are considering a Costa Rica vacation, be sure to visit one of its world-famous sea turtle parks or reserves. Tortuguero National Parkis on its Caribbean coast and is the world’s largest green sea turtle nesting preserve. Travel Costa Rica west to the Pacific and you’ll see the largest arribadas or mass nestings of olive ridley sea turtles on earth. Leatherbacks nest at many of the same beaches used by other sea turtles–and more.

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