Uruguayan fishermen made an
incredible find
on the coast of the
José Ignacio
resort , located just 35 minutes from
Punta del Este
, in the municipality of Garzón, department of Maldonado.
It is the
largest species of turtle in the world
, which does not usually appear near the beaches of that country and is in danger of extinction.
The discovery occurred during the first days of January, although it was only known several weeks later what animal it was.
According to the director of the
Karumbé sea turtle center
, Gabriela Vélez, in a conversation with local radio
FM Gente
, it is the
leatherback turtle, known as the seven-keeled turtle, whose shell can measure up to two meters long
.
Its scientific name is
Dermochelys coriacea
.
"Days ago, Gonzalo Gil and his partner Fernando shared with us the video where you could see a huge specimen of leatherback turtle, also known as seven-keeled turtle,
700 meters from the coast in José Ignacio
, its species is classified as the largest. largest in the world," they wrote from
FM Gente
on their official Twitter account.
Meanwhile, the expert explained that this animal "
is common in Uruguayan waters
," but in the depths, since "
it does not come as close to the coast
as the green turtle does."
In addition, he noted that "their main diet is mussels and other gelatinous organisms."
That is why "when there are jellyfish in Uruguay, these turtles will appear, since they go after them."
Leatherback turtle, the largest species in the world.
Photo: Karumbé sea turtle center
"
Between January and May is when they appear most along the entire coast
. Mainly on the Atlantic coast, in the departments of Rocha and Maldonado. Sometimes it is also very common to see them within the estuary of the Río de la Plata, in search of aguavivas. Towards the end of autumn you see them in Montevideo or San José," he added.
On the other hand, he stressed that "they are not aggressive animals."
However, he recommended that people "
have respect for them and do not try to approach this species
."
Likewise, he warned that this type of turtle is distributed throughout the world, although "it is the one with the greatest conservation and threat problem in the world", that is, in high danger of extinction.
"It is one of the turtles that is least known. It is not well known where they spend their first years of life and
it is known that populations are decreasing
," he added.
IS