Leatherback turtle pulls shell over residents’ eyes

A GIGANTIC dead leatherback sea turtle washed ashore at Vierkantklip near Swakopmund yesterday afternoon.
The excellent state of the dead turtle fooled many passers-by, who thought it had just walked out of the stormy ocean. Even Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources officials had to go closer to the carcass before realising that it was actually dead.

The more than two-metre long turtle was standing on all fours, with its mouth wide open. There were hardly any signs of decay.One eyewitness ‘swore’ to the The Namibian that they saw the turtle walking, but later had to admit that the ocean’s backwash probably made it seem as if the turtle had moved. One of the Fisheries officials said if the turtle had been alive, they would have attempted to guide it back into the sea.’It’s dead though and now nature must just take its course,’ he said.Several leatherback turtles have washed up along the central coast over the last few years, with the reason remaining a mystery.The leatherback is one of five known turtle species found in the Benguela sea region. Along with the ‘hawksbill’ turtle, the leatherback is classified as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union.Globally, 200 000 leatherbacks die every year because of human fishing activities, mostly as by-catch victims in long-line trawling.Within the Benguela region, which stretches from Angola to south-west of South Africa, about 4 000 turtles are annually reported dead as a result of ending up as by-catch. It is estimated that more than 600 turtles are caught in Namibian waters every year.It is speculated that not all the turtles caught are brought on deck and that many are washed off fishing hooks, drown and are then washed up on beaches.adam@namibian.com.na