And also, turtles!
The leatherback sea turtle, or Dermochelys coriacea, to be precise. They grow quite large, averaging three- to five-feet, but the ones we saw today were on the smaller size. They are the largest of the turtles, and the most widespread. They eat jellyfish and small fish, as you’ll see in the video below. Once they grow to maturity they have few natural predators, which is why the estimated age range is from 30 to 60 or more years. They are most in danger when they are young and, of course, from humans.
These particular ones are as socialized as a reptile can be. Watch the video:
My lovely wife — who is shooting pretty much all of the underwater stuff, by the way — pronounced it the most amazing experience ever. We laughed, watching people jump off the catamaran, see a turtle, and then climb back aboard. As if to say “Yep, mission accomplished.”
We never want to get out of the water.
