Five species of marine turtle have been recorded in UK and Irish waters. Leatherbacks are the most commonly sighted marine turtle species in UK seas, usually seen during the summer, and are believed to migrate thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean to feed on our abundant jellyfish. Click here to see a leatherback turtle swimming at Arkive.org.

Indeed, the largest turtle ever recorded anywhere in the world washed up dead at Harlech North Wales in 1988. It was a male leatherback that drowned after becoming entangled in buoy ropes and it weighed 916kg and measured 2.91 metres in length (pictured below). It is now on display at the National Museum and Galleries of Wales in Cardiff.

Loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and green turtles have also been recorded in UK waters, as well as a single record of a hawksbill accidentally caught in a herring net off Cork in 1983. These hard-shelled marine turtles are warm water species and the individuals that occur here are usually juveniles that have inadvertently strayed into our chilly seas. If they are found alive on a UK beach they can be rescued and should be reported immediately. Never return stranded hard-shelled turtles back to UK seas. Marine turtles are protected in the UK, but no offence is committed if a turtle is tended to ensure its survival. For more information click here.

Marine Turtles Grouped Species Action Plan: The main threats to leatherback turtles in UK waters include ingestion of marine litter such as plastic and balloons, and accidental entanglement in fishing gear, especially the buoy ropes of bottom-set static gear such as crab pots, tangle nets and prawn creels. The MCS is lead partner on the UK Marine Turtles Grouped Species Action Plan (SAP), a UK Government document published in 1999 that lists a series of actions to facilitate marine turtle conservation and research in UK waters and abroad. 

Turtle Implementation Group (TIG): As lead partner MCS works with a coalition of UK organisations and institutions known as the the Turtle Implementation Group (TIG). The TIG strives to meet each year to discuss SAP progress and includes lead partners MCS and the Herpetological Conservation Trust, as well as Government contact agency Scottish Natural Heritage and partners Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England, Environment and Heritage Service, Marine Environmental Monitoring, MEDASSET, University College Cork, University of Exeter, University of Wales Swansea and the Wildlife Trusts.