How big are turtles?

jimi

jimi

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Was talking to an ex-fisherman in the pub, he used to trawl the edge of the continental shelf on Biscay (allegedly) and claimed they used to bring up turtles the size of mini cars. I said his memory was affected by age and alcohol ... was I right or wrang?
 
The largest turtle is the leatherback.

According to Wikipedia "... adults average 1–2 metres (3.3–6.6 ft) long and weigh 250 to 700 kilograms (550 to 1,500 lb). The largest ever found however was over 3 meters (10 ft) from head to tail and weighed 916 kilograms (2,019 lb). That specimen was found on a beach on the west coast of Wales."
 
Bigger than you, which is not difficult

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I saw an enormous Leatherback turtle laying eggs one evening on the beach on the east coast here (Barbados) a few months ago - I phoned our local Turtle Watch hotline and described this big lady to them, and they reckoned that she was probably pushing 2,000 lbs - she was huge!
And she was totally oblivious to (or not concerned about) me and two mad barking dogs when we came across her.
And she reached that size by apparently eating an almost exclusive diet of jellyfish...... just imagine how many jellyfish we would have in the sea if we didnt have turtles!
All turtles are protected here now thankfully - they used to be ruthlessly hunted, and their eggs collected.
But now everybody realises that they are worth far more alive than dead - 'Snorkelling with the Turtles' is big business here, on par with whale watching tours in other countries, and a fairly definite guarantee of being able to have turtles eating out of your hand (usually little green and hawksbill turtles, not 1 tonne leatherbacks!).
 
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Watched them coming ashore on the beaches of Oman to lay eggs. About 5' long.
 
jimi said:
Was talking to an ex-fisherman in the pub, he used to trawl the edge of the continental shelf on Biscay (allegedly) and claimed they used to bring up turtles the size of mini cars. I said his memory was affected by age and alcohol ... was I right or wrang?
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I think he may be guilty of slight exaggeration. All the turtles I've seen whilst snorkelling in the Caribbean have been less than a metre long.
 
jimi said:
Was talking to an ex-fisherman in the pub, he used to trawl the edge of the continental shelf on Biscay (allegedly) and claimed they used to bring up turtles the size of mini cars. I said his memory was affected by age and alcohol ... was I right or wrang?
Click to expand...

Whilst you were in your cups ,young Jeemsie, did you forget that before Alex. Issigonis,the Turkish car designer,minicars were MUCH smaller ,e,g Bond Bug,Isetta ,Mescherschmitt,Heinkel, and vot did YOU do in the var?:cool::D
 
Turtles, being reptiles, can grow throughout their life. Of course, the expected maximum size depends of the species and (barring Pratchett's Astrochelonians) the largest is the Leatherback. So, a few metres is the expected maximum size of a turtle.
 
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