The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) was called to the Trepassey area after a leatherback sea turtle was sighted in the area late last month by resident Shane Clarke.
It had washed up on shore and was deceased.
DFO made a trip to the area to take samples for long-term genetic and toxicology analysis.
The massive creature is male, DFO says, and a little over six feet long (approximately 190 centimetres) when measured from the tip of the head to the bottom of the tail.
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While DFO didn't have the tools on hand to weigh it, leatherback turtles typically clock in between around 660 and 1,100 pounds. The leatherback turtle found in NL is on the lower end of average size.
Leatherbacks are the largest turtle species, and are unique in that they're the only species that lack the hard shell and scales other turtles have.
"They rather have all these kinds of small little interlocking bones and then a layer of fat and a rubbery skin on top of it," said Dr. Charmain Hamilton at Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). "So they're quite different in that way."
Leatherback turtles are classified as an endangered species under the federal Species at Risk Act.
"There was no obvious sign of death that we could see on the turtle," said Hamilton. "There was a mark on one of the pectoral flippers that indicated that it may have been entangled at some point during its life. But it was not possible to say for sure what was the cause of death."
What's for sure is that it had only been dead for a short period of time before DFO arrived, Hamilton said.
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Other potential causes of death include bycatch from fisheries and entanglement -- that's a leatherback turtle's biggest threat to survival -- as well as marine pollution, such as plastic bags, or being struck by a ship.
To combat the endangered status of the species, Hamilton says DFO research estimates are underway, a threat assessment has been conducted, and there's been an effort to work with fishermen.
"There's been a push with different fishermen just at least to look out for them, and for what to do if they find them entangled," she said. "There's also been a kind of push to change fishing hooks on long lines to reduce the risks."
Natural causes are also a possible explanation for the death.
The turtle's age is difficult to estimate, says Hamilton, but she describes it as a mature adult. The lifespan for a leatherback is estimated at 50 years.
It's more common than you think to see leatherback sea turtles in NL.
They are mostly spotted in the summer and autumn in southern NL, east of the Burin Peninsula, including parts of Placentia Bay. It's here they forage on jellyfish; leatherback turtles are known to consume 100 per cent of their body weight in jellyfish daily.
That said, they are still an endangered species.
"I notice a significant difference in the number of turtles we find in the midst of field work and in field situations," said Kathleen Martin, executive director of the Canadian Sea Turtle Network.
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"We just simply find fewer of them than we used to. Within the span of my career, I've been able to see the difference, and that is really stressful. You don't typically see that within basically a generation."
Washing up on shore is a rare occurrence, however. DFO last recorded such a case in the province in 2019 in southwestern NL.
In a broader sense, nesting data for the species shows a decline in most parts of the world; the World Wildlife Fund states the global population estimate was 115,000 adult females in 1982, and 30,000-40,000 in 1996. The Pacific is estimated to have as few as 2,300 adult females currently.
The leatherback sea turtle population is declining in the Northwest Atlantic at a rate of 7.8 per cent per year, which Martin describes as "significant" and "stressful."
While entanglement is a major factor -- and is something Atlantic Canadian fishermen have been very collaborative in trying to alleviate -- climate change is a factor, too.
For leatherback turtles, their gender is dependent on the temperature of the egg incubation location, so warmer temperatures mean more females and fewer males are born, causing a population decline.
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In some cases, including last year, entire nests of hatchling sea turtles were wiped out in Trinidad -- the global capital for leatherback turtles -- due to the higher temperatures.
DFO urges anyone who spots a leatherback turtle in distress to contact Whale Release & Strandings at 1-888-895-3003. A non-profit group, it responds to cases of leatherback sea turtles and other species entrapped in fishing gear or ice, or stranded on the shore.
As for leatherback turtles not in distress, residents are encouraged to contact DFO at 1-800-782-3058 or [email protected].
Sean Ridgeley is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter.
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