Sailors delighted by critically endangered leatherback turtle sighting in Tasman Bay

Tuesday, 15 January 2019

A group of sailors were thrilled to come across a critically endangered leatherback turtle cruising through the waters of Tasman Bay.

Ruurd van der Wel was onboard his yacht Miro with daughter Tess van der Wel and friends Harrison Carver and Simon Wayne-Jones on Saturday when they came across the large turtle.

The group had spent the previous night anchored behind Adele Island in the Abel Tasman National Park and were heading out into the bay to go fishing when something in the sea caught van der Wel's eye.

'I thought it was flotsam, something floating on the surface … we got closer and I yelled out; 'turtle!'

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Ruurd van der Wel was sailing with his daughter and friends in Tasman Bay when they came across this leatherback turtle which he estimated was between 2 and 2.5 metres in length.

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Van der Wel said he was in disbelief as the turtle stayed close to the boat for about five minutes, during which time he stuck his head above water about four times.

'The water was crystal clear so we had a very good look at him, he must have been between two, two and a half metres in length.'

Department of Conservation marine technical advisor Clinton Duffy confirmed the turtle was a leatherback, based on its size alone.

The world's biggest turtle, leatherbacks breed in the tropics but range throughout cooler oceans. They get their name because, instead of a shell, their backs are covered with a leathery, oily tissue.

Duffy said while several turtle species visited New Zealand waters each year and all were endangered, leatherback turtles were critically endangered.

Leatherbacks migrated to New Zealand to feed, mainly on jellyfish and salps - transparent marine invertebrates. Some were estimated to spend more than a year in New Zealand's waters and being a pelagic species, they didn't usually come close to land.

They were able to tolerate much lower temperatures than other turtles and therefore were the species seen most frequently around the South Island.

Department of Conservation Nelson-based marine technical advisor Andrew Baxter said sightings of leatherback turtles in Tasman Bay were rare and only reported every few years.

The last sighting of a leatherback in the region was in March 2016 when a Motueka family reported seeing one off the coast of Marahau near Fisherman Island.

This leatherback turtle was seen near Fisherman Island, off the coast of Marahu in Tasman Bay in 2016.

In 2006, a dead leatherback turtle was found washed up in Wainui Bay, adjacent to the Abel Tasman National Park in Golden Bay.

An avid sailor, van der Wel said he had lived in the Carribean for a number of years and seen a number of turtles, but never a leatherback.

'I've seen plenty of other marine life, dolphins, orca, pilot whales but this was just really out of the ordinary.'

He said the turtle didn't appear to be in any distress, he stayed about a metre below the surface, popping his head above the surface a couple of times.

The group contacted the harbourmaster and the Department of Conservation to let them know of the sighting.

He had learnt that leatherback turtles visited the region very occasionally.

Van der Wel said the encounter was magical.

'It was a once in a lifetime experience.

'Abel Tasman National Park is my happy place without turtles but this topped it off.'