Dead Leatherback

[PuraVida]

About 1:30pm on March 10th, the fishing boat Madson called and informed me that another boat was reporting a dead leatherback sea turtle off the north end of Singer Island. I called the vet at the Marine Life Center in Juno and relayed the message. Because this was a leatherback, the marine science community expressed great interest in trying to locate, secure, and bring it back for a necropsy. Sirena was out on a trip, so Vann, owner of Narcosis, volunteered his boat and away we went. Flat seas and the cooperation of various fishing boats who had kept an eye on the turtle made it easy for us to find it.

Shortly after arriving at the scene an FWC officer showed up. Since I was already in the water with the large dead turtle, I informed him that his sole job was to look out for sharks! We determined the turtle was in good enough shape to warrant bringing it in...only 1 cut was visible on its right front flipper, along with some parasites on the eyes. It took about an hour to secure the turtle in a way that would allow transport and would not damage it any further. The photos are in the gallery and although not perfect, do document the condition the turtle was in when we arrived on the scene.