rhamphotheca:TURTLES IN THE NEWS:Rare 500-pound leatherback sea turtle rescued from remote beach nea
rhamphotheca:TURTLES IN THE NEWS:Rare 500-pound leatherback sea turtle rescued from remote beach near Georgetown, SCby Melissa BoughtonIt took five people crossing a swinging bridge and riding through the mud and marsh in a 4x4 truck to rescue a rare 500-pound leatherback sea turtle Saturday found stranded alive in the surf on a remote beach in the Lowcountry.As one of the largest reptiles in the world, a leatherback stranded ashore usually means death.Saturday’s live rescue is the first in South Carolina’s history and maybe one of five in all of the United States, according to Jenna Cormany, a wildlife biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.The large, black turtle was spotted at a beach on the Yawkey-South Island Reserve near Georgetown and appeared to be sick, Cormany said. So she and two other DNR employees, along with a veterinarian and a volunteer went on quite the adventure to save it…(read more: Post and Courier)photographs by South Carolina Aquarium -- source link