Leatherback sea turtle rescued- 500-pound (230 kg) leatherback sea turtle, an endangered reptile of a turtle family that roots back 100 million years, and is considered the largest on earth has been found by wildlife officials in a remote beach in South Carolina.
The rare leatherback sea turtle rescued is considered as a treasure as it is now very unusual to see this kind stranded alive. Yawkey, the leatherback turtle is being treated at the South Carolina Aquarium.
It is the very first time that a leatherback turtle is recovered in South Carolina and it is also one of the few that were treated in the United States rehabilitation facilities as claimed by Jenna Cormany, biologist of the Department of Natural Resources, Reuters cited.
Yawkey, the leatherback sea turtle rescued in Yawkey South Island Reserve in Georgetown County on Saturday weighs approximately 500-pounds. Kelly Thorvalson, program manager for the aquarium sea turtle rescue program claimed that it was only estimate as Yawkey is too huge to fit in the scale.
According to ABC News, the leatherback sea turtle rescued is being treated with antibiotics and fluids as Yawkey was found to have low blood sugar. It is a speculation that Yawkey may have eaten marine debris such as plastic, which the turtle may have thought of jelly fish, its favorite food.
South Carolina Aquarium has rehabilitated and freed over 150 sea turtles in the last 15 years. And Yawkey is the first leatherback sea turtle rescued and treated in the center.
According to Thorvalson, eating plastic could cause gas accumulation in the digestive tract making it buoyant and may have kept the turtle floating to the shore. Most probably, leatherback sea turtle rescued may have come from the Gulf Stream, around 60 miles offshore.
Yawkey, the leatherback sea turtle rescued and its kind are tough animals. "This turtle is in good enough condition that we can give it a good head start and release it. Thorvalson said. "I do feel good about its prognosis," Triblive reports.
Leatherback sea turtle grows up to seven feet long (2 meters) and weighs more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). They can dive to depths of 4,200 feet and can stay in deep down for up to 85 minutes.
According to the National Geographic, the largest leatherback sea turtle ever recovered male weighs 2,020 lbs (916 kg) and is stunningly large with its height of 8.5-ft-long (2.6-m-long). It was found washed out in 1988 at the West Coast of Wales.
Leatherback sea turtle is called as such as its case is made of inky-blue carapace of the leatherback with bony shells that are hard and seem flexible and rubbery to the touch.
Yawkey, the leatherback sea turtle rescued is expected to be released soon as leatherback turtles don't survive well during captivity.
