Leatherback turtle found on Cherry Hill Beach

Cherry Hill resident, Tom Bannister said he watched two researchers from Dalhousie University take measurements, samples and photographs. They also removed the head of the large turtle.

“They keep the heads for educational purposes and also because they hope someday that researchers will be able to correlate data from the skull with age or use with the skulls as a source of other data. The samples go to Europe where there is a DNA database of Leatherback populations from around the world.”

He continued. “It was interesting to see the interior of the neck after the head was removed. The neck had spines (sort of like catfish whiskers) that function like teeth. They lay away from the mouth into the body and have the dual purpose of shredding the consumed jellyfish and preventing it from coming back out.”

The turtle was bloated and, therefore, probably has been dead for a lengthy time. The cause was unknown at deadline.