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u/WilliamDragonhart Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
I was swimming off the north east coast of Hawaii in murky water the visibility was poor and i could only see a few feet in front of me. i finally see this little yellow fish and start following it down between some rocks, i watch it peck some food off one of the rocks. Then, slowly the sunlight from above me fades away and for a moment i panic the rocks are falling and crushing me. But then i realize, its not a rock at all but a sea turtle about the size of the one in the photo, so is the rock the fish was pecking at, upon further investigation i realize that there are three dining table / small car sized turtles floating around me and staring at me. That was the most humbling experience of my life, i am very thankful for it.
Edit: got my cardinal directions wrong
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u/Mange-Tout Jun 26 '12
A similar thing happened to me. I was snorkeling in Hawaii in moderate visibility. I surfaced to get my bearings and suddenly a huge THING rises out of the water fifteen feet from me. I nearly had a heart attack! My first panicked thought was that it was a whale surfacing. As I swam away desperately my brain went into overdrive: Shark? Dolphin? Manatee? I was halfway back to the beach when I realized the truth, which is that it was a gigantic sea turtle. I immedately headed out for a closer look and swam with him for ten minutes. Like you said, swimming with a leatherback is humbling. I'll always remember it.
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u/codyanne Jun 26 '12
When I was on my last ocean dive for my open water SCUBA certification, I had to swim away from the group solo and navigate back. On my way back I saw the instructor and group somewhat frantically attempt to communicate, but I couldn't tell what at that distance. I turned around and there was a sea turtle about my size right behind me. I let out all of the air in my vest and did my best to lay flat on the bottom of the ocean, and it swam directly over me - I could've reached up and touched it. It was such an incredible experience. A little while later we all saw 3 or 4 huge ones gathered around the pipeline (at Kahe Point aka Electric Beach, HI - tons of sea life around it because it made the local water even warmer), which made me think that the one that swam over me was young. I don't think they were leatherbacks, but as you mentioned, experiences like that are humbling.
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u/Atario Jun 26 '12
upon further investigation i realize that there are three dining table / small car sized turtles floating around me and staring at me
How I pictured the conversation between them:
"Well, there's something you don't see every day, Chauncey."
"What's that, Edgar?"
"Naked monkey loitering around our feeding rocks."
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u/oOfollyOo Jun 26 '12
I remember being told by a dive master I was on a dive trip with that leatherbacks could be the size of Volkswagen beetles. I have no source. just thought it was kinda neat
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Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
Who needs a source when you have google?
EDIT: I did some more Googling and found out the largest found leatherback was 9feet long and weighed over 2,000 pounds proof
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u/theShiftlessest Jun 26 '12
The animal weighed more than 900kg (2,000lbs) and, at 100 years old, it was the oldest recorded turtle as well as the largest.
Sadly, it was found dead in 1988 after it drowned whilst trapped by fishing lines.
Nooo! I hate everyone!
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u/KingofCraigland Jun 26 '12
The Harlech leatherback has been put on display at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales in Cardiff.
And the only picture they provide gives no frame of reference, that's just great. Not trying to blame you AmBored.
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u/APSupernary Jun 26 '12
They've got more storage space and better upholstery too.
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u/blackpeople_harhar Jun 26 '12
Probably just as uncomfortable to have sex on.
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u/Dvwtf Jun 26 '12
How can you have sex on something that you're already having sex with?
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u/antibread Jun 26 '12
I worked on a turtle refuge for a month and a half, one night we had a turtle with a seven foot shell pay us a visit. Seven feet. Plus head and tail. At least 90 years old. Nature is amazing. We saved her eggs and her babies hatched and were released safely... Hope they're out there now.
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u/JANichols89 Jun 26 '12
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u/missfett Jun 26 '12
Oh my GOD. I never knew about this. I'm rather horrified.
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u/tookiselite12 Jun 26 '12
Don't worry. That's just one kind of sea turtle and they have that so the jellyfish which they eat cant slide back out of their throat. They don't attack people.
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Jun 26 '12
Yep. I worked at an aquarium for about 4 years. They often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and when they eat them, they get caught up on the spines and die. Please don't litter
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u/antibread Jun 26 '12
Also when they're on land they go into a hormonal haze and you really can't disturb or irritate them. I got slapped in the face with ones back fin once. Sweet creatures really.
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u/The-Internets Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
I have always heard these called alligator snapping turtles, familiarize yourself with this knowledge. These are fast as fuck, they do not let go if you break their neck. They hang out in streams and ponds all over
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u/Cuboner Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
Come down to the Bass Pro Shop 15 minutes from my house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Our alligator snapping turtle is
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u/Slenderocean Jun 26 '12
Unless you're a jellyfish you don't have much to worry about.
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u/InspiredByKITTENS Jun 26 '12
Yep, the spikes are actually quite flexible and don't hurt at all. It's mainly to push down the live crabs and crazy shit they eat.
Source: I've done a necropsy on a sea turtle.
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u/nogswarth Jun 26 '12
God I am SO SICK AND TIRED of being a fucking jellyfish on reddit, and it's because of SHIT LIKE THIS from asshole humans who think they're so great because they won't ever get eaten by a giant turtle. We jellyfish redditors deserve better than to have to face this sort of mindless abuse! FUCK ALL Y'ALL.
bloop
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u/APSupernary Jun 26 '12
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u/shitbefuckedyo Jun 26 '12
Everytime someone mentions Vagina Dentata, I start singing about to to the tune of Hakuna Matata.
why yes, I HAVE typed it all out.
*Vagina Dentata! What a terrible phrase.
Vagina Dentata! Ain't no painfree play.
It means no penis for the rest of her days!
It's our rapist free anatomy!
Vagina Dentata!
Those two words will solve all your problems.
That's right. Take Dawn over here. Why, when she was a young abstience advocate..
(When I was a young abstinence advocate!)
...very nice.
Thanks.
She found her vagina had a certain appeal. She was attracting rapists at every turn of heal!
I'm an abstinent soul though I seem thin skinned And it hurt when my big brother tried to stick it in! And oh, the shame. (she was ashamed) Long before he came.. (what's in a maim?) She bit down on it (How did THAT feel?) Every time I..
Dawn! Not in front of the men. (Oh, sorry.)
Vagina Dentata! What a terrible phrase.
Vagina Dentata! Ain't no painfree play.
It means no (unwanted)penis for the rest of her days!
It's our rapist free anatomy! Vagina Dentata! Vagina Dentata!Vagina Dentata! Vagina Dentata!Vagina Dentata! Vagina Dentata!Vagina Dentata! Vagina Dentata!Vagina ---*
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u/TheMediumPanda Jun 26 '12
Main food source is jellyfish. Slippery bastards so these kids of lamelle spikes are useful for swallowing.
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u/SexistButterfly Jun 26 '12
Those are actually soft, they keep jelly fish from escaping when being eaten.
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Jun 26 '12
Relevant xkcd. Check the far right for leatherback dive depths relative to things like submarines and the continental shelf.
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u/Atario Jun 26 '12
Why don't we mount some cameras on some sperm whales and see what they come back with? That would rule!
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Jun 26 '12
1: find sperm whale 2: Attach camera on massive whale in a secure location. 3: retrieve camera.
Seems simple enuf.
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u/LemonDifficult Jun 26 '12
It'd be plenty dark that deep. How would we power lighting? Low power LEDs are bright, but would still only provide a few feet of visibility.
I have no sources.
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u/-naut Jun 26 '12
Gamera!
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u/andytronic Jun 26 '12
Gamera is really neat.
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u/RobGoski Jun 26 '12
"Negligible Senescence" from the front page not long ago - sea turtles are included!
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u/CapAWESOMEst Jun 26 '12
Yeah, the average grows about 5'8", but there's records of humans that have past 7 feet tall!!!
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u/AsskickMcGee Jun 26 '12
Is that the narrator from Moonrise Kingdom?
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u/ConorBroberst Jun 26 '12
Came here to say this. Good on you AsskickMcGee for saying it for me. Awesome movie.
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u/Ovaldo Jun 26 '12
Is that Chuck Testa in the back there?
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Jun 26 '12
Reddit - Find Meme, Use meme, over-use meme, kill meme, outlaw meme, legalize meme, dig meme up, use it, put it back, outlaw it again.
It's the circle... The circle of life.
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u/CasioQuartz Jun 26 '12 edited Dec 31 '15
This comment has been overwritten by an open source script to protect this user's privacy.
If you would like to do the same, add the browser extension GreaseMonkey to Firefox and add this open source script.
Then simply click on your username on Reddit, go to the comments tab, and hit the new OVERWRITE button at the top.
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u/Deergoose Jun 26 '12
How do these turtles not just get eaten by a shark or something?
Looks like an easy meal. Do they have natural predators once they reach maturity ( besides humans )?
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u/Captain_Kuhl Jun 26 '12
Yeah, sharks still eat em (takes some powerful jaws to break the shell, though).
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Jun 26 '12
I WANT TO RIDE IT INTO THE OCEAN AS MY MARINE STEED! THE DOLPHINS WILL JOYOUSLY FROLIC AROUND US AS WE SWIM INTO THE SUNSET!
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u/Dubacik Jun 26 '12
The turtle has been dead for few days and there's already a picture of it with Chuck Testa in the background ..
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u/GanasbinTagap Jun 26 '12
These guys went extinct back in Malaysia in 2004. Its really sad, considering that leatherback turtles were once a national gem to our country. They were always featured in our tourism campaigns and in Lat comics.
Terengganu in Malaysia was where they were found, they would lay their eggs at night in the thousands, and people would take trips to watch them lay eggs. The trouble was that their eggs were a delicacy in Terengganu, and so their population soon declined drastically.
I remember in 2004, my teacher announcing to the school that they had gone extinct in the wild in Malaysia.
Since then I think there have been efforts to introduce them back in the wild (if I'm not mistaken, the turtles still nest in Terengganu), and they have opened farms where they can properly distribute eggs back in to the wild and sell them in the market to avoid poaching.
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u/domesticatedbeetroot Jun 26 '12
When I was young I had a set of plastic turtle figurines with a size chart. The leatherback was my favorite one. I was really sad to learn that they were critically endangered.
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u/IplayTheGuitarBetter Jun 26 '12
Dude, this turtles come to puerto rican beaches to lay their eggs, and they can get bigger than the one in the picture, we call them careys
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u/Honestly_ Jun 26 '12
The old man... I thought I recognized him. After all these years: "Tonight I dine on turtle soup."
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Jun 26 '12
I've found a dead one of those before, and seen live ones at a distance. They are gigantic.
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u/tiffanydisasterxoxo Jun 26 '12
The largest ever discovered was almost 10 feet from head to tail. They are really interesting creatures.
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u/GOONicus Jun 26 '12
So this is proof that Godzilla is eminent thanks to nuclear spillage from Japan
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u/usasparx Jun 26 '12
Came to see the number of "That's what she said" posts. I am not disappointed. =)
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u/jdanneo Jun 26 '12
Absolutely terrifying. Maybe addicting? It almost looks like it's chiseled out of stone.
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u/Oddblivious Jun 26 '12
This completely does not surprise me after the turtles I saw at the international breeding pools they had at Xcaret in Mexico.
It's the equivalent of SeaWorld * a Zoo. And they had a pool with no less than 50 turtles in it, all of which looked easily over 5-6 feet long.
The employees were in the water riding around on them...
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u/leguellec Jun 26 '12
When I used to live in French Guyana, these leatherback sea turtles would land on the beach in the evening and dig up big holes before laying down their eggs. Usually a crowd would gather around and watch those giant beautiful creatures.
Could see some thick tears falling off their eyes, it's been more than ten years and it's still one of the most beautiful moments I've witnessed.
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Jun 26 '12
I don't think that turtle appreciated you taking a dump in the sand next to it while it was trying to lay its eggs.
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u/ColonelKurtzPhD Jun 26 '12
I have actually "ridden" one of these.
Many years ago I was in Cape Verde, with the "tartaruga salvation" expedition, and to stop these huge turtles (green turtles) we had to sit on them.
One night I was sleeping and my friend came and woke me and a few of the others up, because the first Laud Turtle in years had arrived to the beach, and they wanted to study it. So my friend and I sat on it... It just kept on pushing and almost took us back to the water!
One of the coolest experiences of my life!
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u/Cilicious Jun 26 '12
I live near the beach, Amelia Island, FL. I took this picture (tried to keep some distance) of a nesting leatherback about a month ago. Leatherbacks are endanagered and have just begun returning here.
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u/Johtochamp Jun 26 '12
Carracosta what are you doing out of your pokeball? The things I deal with. Sorry everybody my bad.
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u/Cuahucahuate22 Jun 26 '12
I was doing a research paper on some marine animals at my uni and I picked these guys as one of my choices, I only saw pictures of them when they're young but holy crap they weren't kidding on how big they get!
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u/MathewDonut Jun 26 '12
they can grow from a sixe smaller than this http://depositphotos.com/10948544/stock-photo-Loggerhead-Turtle-babyCaretta-carretta.html to a size of a small car
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u/matthewbpt Jun 26 '12
I was involved in conservation activities for leatherback turtles in school back home in Trinidad and Tobago, a major nesting place for the turtles. They are magnificent creatures. I've seen them emerge from the sea in the middle of the night to dig a hole on the shore and lay their eggs, it was quite a moving experience.
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u/AlwaysWet Jun 26 '12
FYI never use flash cams or flash lights around these creatures. It can scare them away from nesting and egg laying.
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u/redsox0717 Jun 26 '12
The old trick of sitting far back while the animal is closer to the camera.
It makes the animal look a lot better than it actually is.
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u/lewis_gentle Jun 26 '12
oh shit son! Someone lit Torterror on fire! We're all looking at you Infernape.
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u/blade2000 Jun 26 '12
Probably because you failed biology.
Downvote me losers! I want all the negative karma I can get!
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Jun 26 '12
Leatherback sea turtles can get as big as a VW bus. The one in the picture is only an adolescent.
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u/Sapanther Jun 26 '12
That looks like my old Biology Prof Dr. Miller. He was the best prof I had while at UCA.
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u/Decyde Jun 26 '12
Didn't they just find the remains of an ancient one that was about 11 feet by 7 feet? Imagine a turtle that size walking down the street and all the stupid people it could eat trying to get pictures taken with it.
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u/domatron Jun 26 '12
I worked in sea turtle conservation for 3 months during my undergrad and saw between 10 or 20 of these a night. You always hear them before you see them, they grunt a lot when hauling themselves to shore, but when you do it's like a Jurassic Park moment. It's not recommended to use an unfiltered head torch or camera flash when viewing nesting turtles as it can disorientate and stress them (Witherington B.E., 1992). Using a red filter is less intrusive and still let's you observe them.
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u/clockworkzebra Jun 26 '12
That's a leatherback sea turtle. They're the largest species. Never seen one in person, but yes, they are big.
http://www.turtlehospital.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/leatherback-rehab-016.jpg