In this adorable video, a leatherback sea turtle emerges from the water onto a sandy beach. It was enough to make everyone gasp even though the gorgeous beast only stopped by for a brief moment.
It is unknown where the video was taken, but it shows the world’s largest turtle relaxing on the sand before disappearing back into the ocean. A beachgoer who witnessed the incredible sighting filmed the moment.
The leatherback turtle is one of the world’s largest turtles and spends most of its time swimming across the ocean alone. In this case, they came ashore only to lay their eggs and very rarely to rest.
The female leatherbacks spend almost all of their time in the ocean, only coming to shore to lay eggs, according to marine researchers from Oceana. Since males will never leave the water again once they hatch and enter the surf, they are more difficult to study than females.”
Although leatherback turtles weigh up to 2,000 pounds, they can travel thousands of miles during their lifetime. As their name implies, these giant turtles do not have a very strong shell, but a leathery skin instead.
During their lifetimes, leatherback turtles travel incredibly long distances, according to Oceana. As a leatherback turtle travels from feeding or nesting sites to preferred feeding sites throughout its lifetime, it may cross the ocean several times.
In the video below, you can watch this giant turtle emerge from the sea!
