IANS

Toronto, Jun 19: How could a contemporary of the great dinosaurs survive to this day?

A rare leatherback turtle, which has existed since the time of the dinosaurs, has been found to be adept at making the longest ocean journey to breed in warmer places.

Fitted with a satellite transmitter by Canadian scientists to track its journey, the turtle - which is the also world's largest turtle growing up to two metres long and weighing up to 500 kilogramme - travelled over 7,000 km to be found on the coast of Colombia in South America.

The 149-centimetre-long turtle named Nueva Esperanza kept sailing for over a year to reach the coast of Colombia, the Canadian Press quoted researchers at the Canadian Sea Turtle Network in Halifax.

The researchers said their counterparts in Colombia tracked the device and found the turtle after the lengthy journey to be nesting on a beach. The turtle makes the ocean journey to breed in the warm beaches of the Caribbean and South America.

The researchers said the data from the transmitter on the turtle will help them study the journey pattern of the species and take steps to preserve them.

After exisiting for hundreds of millions of years, it is now an endangered species in Canada.