A large leatherback sea turtle found encased in ice in Cape Breton likely died from starvation, according to the expert who performed the necropsy.
Laura Bourque, a veterinary pathologist with the Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative in Charlottetown, P.E.I, told The Canadian Press that the endangered turtle appeared to be emaciated.
Bourque said there was no other obvious cause of death, but other tests on the turtle carcass have yet to be completed.
The frozen turtle was discovered in the Bras d'Or Lake in Islandview, N.S. by a local resident, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said Wednesday. The 360-kilogram turtle had to be removed from the ice with wooden planks and a tractor.
“This was probably an animal that was probably feeding late into the year along the coastline in the open Atlantic side of Cape Breton,” sea turtle biologist Mike James told CTV Atlantic.
“It probably wandered into one of the inlets as it was feeding on jellyfish. I suspect, given where it was, it probably didn't easily reorient to find its way back out into the open Atlantic.”
The DFO said that while there have been some reports leatherbacks in the waters near Cape Breton, this is the first recorded sighting in the Bras D'Or Lake.
Leatherback turtles visit Canada's Atlantic coast and the Gulf of St. Lawrence every year, before heading south to warmer waters in the fall.
With files from CTV Atlantic and The Canadian Press
