"This is a rare case where the world's largest turtle and reptile, a cosmopolitan species, ended up in our waters because the Baltic Sea, with its narrow straits, functions like a fish trap. These exotics swim in but can't find their way out," researcher Sergei Põlme told Thursday's "Ringvaade."

The brackish Baltic Sea waters do not suit many types of wildlife and the creatures often cannot survive for long. This was the likely cause of death of the leatherback turtle found in Saaremaa.

"However, it still originates from the Atlantic Ocean. Leatherback turtles travel 15,000 to 20,000 kilometers a year. For example, they lay their eggs in Indonesia and then migrate to feed along the coast of Canada," said Põlme.

This specimen was not fully grown, only a little over a meter long. "It is probably a teenager," he described.

"This species does not have a typical hard shell like other turtles; instead, it has a cartilaginous structure covered with skin, making it flexible. They can be attacked by large sharks and orcas," Põlme said.

While humans rarely eat leatherbacks, their eggs are highly prized. This means th animals are also on the endangered list. "One of the main threats to this species is that people collect their eggs for food. The eggs are small, just slightly larger than a golf ball," the researcher told the show.

Põlme said their main food is jellyfish, but they can get caught in fishing nets and eat plastic.

There may be an estimated 40,000 leatherback turtles in the world, he said: "It's specifically the females that come ashore to lay eggs each year, but this does not reflect the overall population. There are roughly the same number of males, but the males never come to shore."

He added: "This is an extraordinary find for us as well, and we do not have any experts here who could handle it. However, we are trying to contact people from abroad who have worked with this species. In the long term, we would like to showcase it to visitors."

The turtle is currently being studied at the University of Tartu (TÜ) Natural History Museum. One day the museum hopes to put it on public display.

Earlier this week, Põlme said it was the first recorded case of a leatherback turtle in the Baltic Sea.

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