Largest species of sea turtle washes up on Curracloe beach

The largest species of sea turtle washed up on Curracloe beach earlier this week.

The leatherback sea turtle was spotted by a number of visitors to the beach who posed with the reptile and posted the pictures online. The leatherback turtle can weigh up to 920kg and is unique among sea turtles for having a rubbery carapace instead of a hard shell and it is recognised as the largest living sea turtle in the world. It is mostly found in Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Globally, leatherback turtles are a critically endangered species; their numbers are only a quarter of what they were 20 years ago. The world population is estimated at 30,000 to 40,000.