Have You Ever Seen the Inside of a Leatherback Turtles Mouth?

Dmander · #1 ● 08-22-2009, 07:39 PM

Leatherback washes up on beach

By Kim Honan from Port Macquarie , NSW

A two metre long male leatherback turtle was found washed up this morning on Lighthouse Beach at Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast.

The leatherback is the largest and heaviest of the turtle species.

National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) senior field supervisor Earl Winter says turtles washing up isn't a rare event.

"It's quite common on the coastal areas here given there's so many species of turtles," he said.

"This is the second leatherback that we've had washed up almost the same spot in the last three to four years."

"The last one was just over three metres and weighed in at around five to 600 kilos, this one's probably 250 to 300 kilos."

He says the turtle appears to have been dead for about a week and therefore an autopsy will not be performed.

"The tissue is so damaged that it would be very hard to tell (the cause of death) given the condition it is in," he said.

There were no obvious signs as to the cause but the turtle is thought to have most likely died from eating plastic bags.

The leatherback turtles quite often mistake plastic bags for jelly fish.

The bags can then lead to stomach blockage and cause the turtle to starve to death.

But according to the World Wildlife Fund Australia the greatest threat to marine turtles is the commercial fishing industry.

The conservation organisation's website reports that thousands of turtles die each year accidentally caught in hooks, lines and nets of fishing equipment, including trawl nets, gill nets, and on longline hooks.

The WWF-Australia states some 50,000 leatherback turtles are caught globally each year in longline fisheries alone.

Last October a leatherback turtle washed up on Culburra Beach near Nowra on the NSW south coast.

NPWS ecologist Phil Craven said at the time the turtle may have died as a result of being struck by a boat propeller or after being caught in a net.

The leatherback turtles are protected and listed on both the NSW and Commonwealth endangered species lists as vulnerable.

Mr Winter says after recording measurements and photos of the leatherback turtle it would be relocated off the beach and buried quite deep in the fore dune.

dannielle327 · #2 ● 08-22-2009, 07:46 PM

damn they have lots of sharp little teeth.nice pics.

silintli · #3 ● 08-23-2009, 01:24 AM

Well, I learned something new! at first I thought they were just fleshy barbs used to detect movement in the water or something. I didn't think turtles had teeth at all.