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If only the sea turtle could speak, what stories she could tell! With a history of 20 million years behind her, she might know what happened to the dinosaurs. And imagine what she could tell us about the appearance of Homo sapiens in its present form just 300,000 years ago.
 Stephan Morreale (left), Allison Lesle and Frank Paladino on the beach with a 900- pound Leatherback turtle. 
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Each animal on this planet is unique and has a 'dictionary' of genetic codes that are like words in our English dictionary. If Leatherbacks go extinct, we'll loose those words forever. Just imagine if the genetic codes we loose with the Leatherbacks contain the information needed to cure cancer.
-- Frank Paladino, IPFW
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Frank Paladino, professor and chair of biology at IPFW, studies the Leatherback sea turtle in an effort to save the species, which has been critically in danger of extinction. He was the featured speaker last March at Earthwatch Institute's 25th Anniversary Lecture Series in London, where he talked about the "Costa Rican Sea Turtle: The Last of the Few?"
"We've estimated that in the past 10 years, the population of Leatherbacks has dropped from over 100,000 to less than 30,000 worldwide, mostly because of the activities of man," Paladino said in a recent interview.
"Leatherbacks migrate across thousands of miles of ocean to return to the beaches on which they were hatched to reproduce and start another generation," Paladino explained. "I find it fascinating that they do this instinctively."
Paladino's research has taken him to Costa Rica over the past several years where he has increased his great respect for the Leatherbacks' magnificent beauty and serenity. He has also gotten to know some of the creatures.
"I look forward to seeing our 'repeat' animals," he said. "One turtle has had her two rear flippers ripped off in fishing lines. I help her up the beach, and I dig the hole in which she'll lay her eggs. Without this help, she would be unable to construct her nest.
"She seems quite happy and relieved when we are there to help her. I feel good about this and can imagine her thanking me by returning and by the sounds she makes as she is laying her eggs. But I suspect this is speculation on my part."
Paladino wants to know the Leatherbacks' stories -- where they go, how they navigate, and how they hold their breath to dive to depths greater than one mile in the ocean. He wants to protect and save these animals for future generations.
"Each animal on this planet is unique and has a 'dictionary' of genetic codes that are like words in our English dictionary," he said. "If Leatherbacks go extinct, we'll lose those words forever. Just imagine if the genetic codes we lose with the Leatherbacks contain the information needed to cure cancer.
"Think how a writer uses language and rip a page out of the dictionary, like the one with the words 'love,' 'life,' 'laugh' and 'laundry,' knowing the writer will never again be able to express these ideas. This is what extinction of an animal's genetic code would mean to the life on this planet."
Read more about Paladino's turtles at the Earthwatch Web site:
http://www.earthwatch.org/x/Xpaladino.html
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