(AP) Google News 17 Feb 11;
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Conservationists say they got a rare glimpse of a 6-foot (2-meter) -long leatherback — the world's most endangered sea turtle — together with dozens of eggs in western Indonesia.
Khairul Amra, a member of a local conservation group, said Thursday that the giant turtle was spotted on a beach on Sumatra island over the weekend just before it plunged into the water.
Soon after 65 eggs thought to belong to the leatherback were found in a nest — the third such discovery on the same beach this year.
Leatherbacks, which can grow up to 9 feet (3 meters) long, have roamed the oceans for 100 million years, but the globe-trotting sea turtles today number only around 30,000.
Their biggest threats are commercial fishing and egg hunters.
