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Giant turtle washed ashore

Posted on February 4, 2009, 8:08pm and updated on February 5, 2009 at 4:03 pm

Leatherback turtle

A giant turtle that washed ashore at Carpenter Rocks, South Australia.

One of Australia’s newest officially declared threatened species, a rare 2m-long leatherback turtle, has washed ashore near Carpenter Rocks after being strangled in a fishing net.

The massive marine animal is believed to have died far out to sea as local fishermen do not use the nets.

Marine biologists from Flinders University and the University of Adelaide confirmed the turtle was a leatherback.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett formally declared the turtle an endangered species last month.

“The uplisting is mainly due to the ongoing threats the turtle faces from unsustainable harvesting of egg and meat and pressures from commercial fishing outside Australian waters,” Mr Garrett said.

“Leatherback adults average around 1.6 metres in length and weigh from around 250 to 700kg and are found in tropical and temperate waters around Australia.”

According to the World Wildlife Foundation, there are fewer than 34,000 adult females alive.

It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of marine turtles die each year, accidentally caught in hooks, lines and nets of fishing equipment, including trawl nets, gill nets and on longline hooks.

The giant sea creature came ashore about 5km from the lighthouse on a secluded beach.

Carpenter Rocks General Store employee Adrian Von Stanke said it was the second giant turtle he had seen wash up in the area.

Leatherback turtle

Leatherback turtle

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Comments

One Response to “Giant turtle washed ashore”

  1. Jason Virgo on February 5th, 2009 12:20 am 1

    Well done to the photographer!