JERUSALEM, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- An injured leatherback sea turtle, weighing approximately 300 kg and measuring two meters long, has been rescued on Israel's Mediterranean coast, the country's Nature and Parks Authority (NPA) said Thursday.
According to the NPA statement, the rescued female sea turtle is a leatherback, the largest type of sea turtle and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile. Leatherback turtle is distinguished by their soft, leathery shell instead of a hard one like all other turtles.
The leatherback species, typically inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean, has been observed in Israel only 35 times on record over the past 70 years, and most are dead ones washed ashore.
The injured sea turtle was discovered on the beach of Tel Dor National Park in northern Israel, with a severed left flipper, a right flipper entangled in fishing line, and a head wound, it said.
The NPA said its team has transported the turtle to the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center in the coastal village of Mikhmoret for treatment, and plans to release it back to the sea as soon as possible, as the natural environment in the ocean depths is believed to be more conducive to its recovery.
The species as a whole is considered vulnerable and some of its subpopulations are critically endangered. These sea turtles primarily feed on jellyfish, but many of them die from suffocation after mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish and ingesting them. ■
