How big was the largest sea turtle ever recorded?
The largest species of sea turtle was the Archelon, which measured 7m in length and lived in Prehistoric times. Today, the largest living species is the Leatherback. There are 2 sub-species, the Pacific Leatherback and the Atlantic Leatherback. The Atlantic Leatherback is slightly larger than the Pacific population. Leatherbacks measure an average of just less than 2m in carapace (shell) length. The largest Leatherback ever recorded was a male found stranded (washed ashore) on the Welsh coast in 1987. He measured almost 3m (291cm) from tip to tail and weighed 970 kilos.
