These images show the vulnerable 200 kilogramme dead turtle which has washed up on a beach tangled up in a piece of rope as the authorities believe someone had tried to catch it.
The huge leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), a species listed as Vulenrable by the Internationl Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), washed up on the beach in the town of Bula, in Camarines Sur in the Bicol region of the eastern Philippines.
The turtles measured 1.38 metres long and weighed a reported 200 kilogrammes. It was found by local fisherman Tirso Renegado with a piece of rope tangled around its body.
The Bicol office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that they believe somebody had tried to catch the turtle but could not do so because of its size.
The department said the animal may have drowned to death. The turtle’s body was buried close to the sea in the village where it was found. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed.
The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of all living turtles and can reach up to 2.2 metres (7.2 feet) in length and 650 kilogrammes (1,433 lbs) in weight.
A Greenpeace study in 2017 found the Philippines was the third-largest plastic polluter of the sea in the world.
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Story By:Â Alex Cope;Â Sub-Editor:Â Joseph Golder;Â Agency:Â AsiaWire Report;
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