TIMES OF MALTA, MONDAY, JULY25, 1977

THELEATHE.RYTURTLE, A RARE .ANIM.AL

IN MALTESE WATERS
than the old-fashioned attitude MonkSeal,bothraritieskilled
of senseless destruction of both for no purpose at all, except
plant and animal life which sense of empty and meaninglE
merely elevate the 'animal _____
By .Guido Lanfranco
superiority 1n humans, and not ! --
Since ancient times, the There are seven rt!lges raised their good sense and compas- '
Leathery Turtle (Dermochelys longitudinally over the back, sion.
Coriacea) - als-0 known as Luth st.eamlining the whole animal for Whoever ha8 the. opportunity
Turtle or. Leatherback - has swimming. The large limbs, of educating the fisherman can
been known in the Mediterra- developed as paddles, do not also put in.a good word for tbe
nean as a rare species-; when the have ariy visible vestige of claws. I.,.eathery turtle, so that it may be
standards of shipping improved The specimen I have personally left .alone if seen, liberating it if
it became possible for observers examined on June 3, this year captured, and
to record sightings of it between at Spinola was impressive and encouraging its study and obser-
15 degrees north and south its helpless condition 'and vation. The Nattiral History S-OC-
latitudes all over the globe, unnecessary fate has prompted iety of Malta is continuously
always as a rare occurence. me to writ.e these few lines in the striving to bring about a sense of i
.. the Med.U;erranean, in fact, of stimulating its protec- responsibility with regard to our
extremely few records have been tfun and a change of attitude Natural Heritage, and among
made, and the Leathery Turtle is towards it and other marine other things we plead for the
nowadays mostly met within the creatures killed uselessly for Leatherback '.I'urtle and the
1
bigger oceans. Still, occasional mere bravura.
individuals have been seen or The,J.eathecyTurtleisunsuita- i
caught in the Mediterranean, ble forfQod, sincewhereveritwas
and within the last ten years or tried, it was confirmed to have an
so, it has been captured several unpleasant flavour, associated
times around Malta. with too much fatty mat.erial It
'This turtle is the largest in is extremely rare all over the
exist.ence, in fact it can grow to world, especially so in the
two metres long, .and with the Medit.erranean, and the recent
front limbs opened out as pad- captures are not to be inter-
dles,it can span up to 3lh metl,'es. preted as it being frequent, but
Its overall colour is blackish with rather that in a decade over a !
some whitish or yellowish mark- certain cycle, there may be mont
ings, and one of the main charac- than usual, as happens also to
teristics is that instead of being many other rare organisms. Its
covered with scales as in the food is varied consisting of plant
ID.Qrefamiliarspeciesofturtles it and animal m'aterial, including
is covered with a t.Ough scaleless jellyfish, and absolut.ely no evi-
skin over a shield of relatively dence exists.that; in any way, the
small bones, which are not Leathery Turtle could be ofharm
rigidly attached to the endos- to humans.
keleton, and therefore gives the
- impression of having an exos- The sum total of what we know
keleton that yields slightly under about this- giant of the sea is that
pressure. it is harmless to us, it is
extremely rare, and it is unsuita-
ble for human consumption, its
catching or persecution and
extermination should have no
place in our minds.
It is always a pity to see
these creatures brought ashore
by fishermen, who pose for
photographs, fooling around and
over their victim, not knowing
exactly what to do .with it,
expecting praise for the haul Of
course I am not really blaming
the fishermen, because often they
do not know better; but in mod-
em times, such a situation is
intolerable and primitive.
The education of the general
public ' should start in the
schools, where the idea of con-
servation, toleration of all living
organisms and appreciation of
5
Leathery Turtle based on
the natural heritage should be
taken more seriously. We are
putting our trust in the new gen-
erat;ion of teachers who may be
more enlightened in these ideas
sketches taken of one at
Spinola Bay on Ju_ne 3.