Leatherback turtle washes up on Estonian beach
A species never before seen in Estonia was found on the island of Saaremaa this summer: a leatherback turtle. The body is now being studied by experts at the University of Tartu (TÜ) Natural History Museum.
In July, a large dead turtle washed up onto the sand of Estonia's largest island.
Yesterday, the remains of the animal arrived in Tartu, where researchers identified the created by its shell as a leatherback – the largest sea turtle in the world.
This is the first time the animal has been found in Estonia or in its waters.
"For me, this was very big news. We have whales, dolphins, all kinds of creatures like that — they would not have raised my eyebrows much. But this kind of animal has never been known to swim here before," says Sergei Põlme, DNA and environmental sample collections senior specialist at the museum.
TÜ museum zoology researcher Villu Soone also confirmed the find is very rare: "Not just for our country, but for the entire region. This kind of discovery has never been made anywhere in the Baltic Sea. Only in Denmark has it occasionally been found."
He said the leatherback turtle lives in the open ocean and is native to warmer southern waters, typically nesting in places like the Caribbean or Africa. The species can also survive in cooler waters and lays its eggs on the beach.
The creature is included on the endangered species list as people eat their eggs. They also migrate, crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
"The leatherback turtle is the largest turtle in the world, with adults capable of growing up to two meters in length. However, the specimen we have here is not that large," Soone noted.
He added the animal is a little over a meter long. "Maybe it was a young animal?" the researcher said.
There are still many unanswered questions surrounding the turtle.
Põlme has already taken tissue samples from the carcass. It is hoped the animal's origin can be determined by cooperating with foreign scientists and DNA sequencing.
Initially, the animal still had an underbelly and at least one tailbone, but now researchers only have the shell, skeleton and skull.
"It [the turtle] had been in someone's backyard for about a couple of months before the information reached us and the turtle was removed. As a result, its tissues are damaged. If something sits in the Estonian summer for two months, you can imagine it would already be in quite a decomposed state, " Põlme explained.
Visitors will soon be able to see the turtle on display at the museum.
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Editor: Helen Wright
