Large creature rarely seen on Outer Banks lumbers ashore at Cape Lookout, NC park says

A lumbering sea creature that can reach 1,000 pounds made a rare visit to North Carolina’s barrier islands, according to Cape Lookout National Seashore.

The leatherback sea turtle was photographed Wednesday, June 12, on the South Core Banks, which is unusual for an endangered species that prefers tropical beaches.

“Over the last five years or so, we average about one leatherback nest a year,” park spokesman Nate Toering told McClatchy News in an email.

“So yes, this is indeed a fairly rare event. This turtle nested ... and the photo was snapped by an NPS law enforcement ranger on patrol who happened to drive by as she was headed back toward the ocean.”

Leatherbacks are the world’s largest sea turtle species, reaching lengths of 6 feet, experts say. They get their name from having “rubbery skin” rather than a hard shell, officials say.

The eggs laid by the turtle at South Core Banks should begin to hatch in 60 days, and the “two-inch long turtles will have to dig their way out,” the park said.

“The journey to the ocean is filled with many perils such as sea gulls, ghost crabs, and other predators that like to prey on the turtles,” the park wrote.

“Good luck (to) the future leatherback hatchlings!”

South Core Banks is near the southern end of the Outer Banks, about a 190-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.