Considered the world’s biggest sea turtle and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile – the leatherback can grow more than 6.5 feet long and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. They live in tropical and temperate marine waters all over the world and are one of the deepest-diving marine animals ever known. These gigantic sea creatures spend most of their lives in the open ocean and females only come to shore to lay eggs. Hence, finding one of these species emerging from the sea is a rare sight.
A rare sighting of one giant leatherback sea turtle was recorded and uploaded on YouTube. On the video, we can see the humongous sea turtle resting in the sand before crawling back into the water. With two spectators standing behind the enormous marine reptile for scale, the video reveals the actual impressive size of the world’s largest sea turtle. The location where the video was taken is still unknown. But those who have actually seen it got the rare opportunity of seeing one emerging from the water. And that’s incredibly unusual because their proximity to the shore is rare.
Leatherback Is The World’s Largest Sea Turtle
Leatherbacks typically feed on jellyfish. And since jellyfish migrate in deeper water in the daytime and rise up to the surface at night, the chances of spotting a leatherback are higher at night when they’re hunting for food up the water column.
Most of the sightings happen to be in a boat on the water where they were seen swimming on the ocean surface. But seeing them coming up on the shore only happens more than half a dozen times in over 20 years.
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Although it’s commonly known as the world’s largest sea turtle, there’s a lot left unknown about this endangered species. Aside from the fact that these gentle giants have been around for more than 100 million years and there are roughly around 25,000 of them remaining in the world, little is known about this mysterious marine creature.
When it comes to physical features, leatherbacks are easily distinguishable for their shell-less back which is rather covered with thick, leathery skin.