Giant Turtle Ingoldmells Beach

Giant Turtle Ingoldmells Beach

Written by Angela Gooch on August 22nd, 2007 in Disasters, Human Interest, Nature, People, Social History.

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Source: Skegness Standard 15th November 1961
Photo: Amelia Wrate Studio Skegness

Seals, porpoises and whales have been quite a common sight on the Lincolnshire coast, but, having ploughed through most of Skegness’ old newspapers, this is the only turtle to have been washed up that I’ve found so far!
The newspaper reports that, after a local teacher consulted an encyclopedia, it was found to be a 6 feet long Leathery Turtle which had been washed up dead on the beach at Ingoldmells.
The newspaper article has a slightly humorous slant to the story - “which is easier to move, the turtle or Ingoldmells?”
This is in stark contrast to present day strandings, news of which sends resounding waves of horror around the world.
No post mortems from the London Zoological Society for the turtle! It was left to a local teacher to identify it, probably just out of idle curiosity.

Let’s look at the transcript from the original old newspaper:

What a whopper - the size of a Leathery Turtle washed ashore at Ingoldmells is shown by this onlooker
(photo by Amelia Wrate Studio)
Giant leathery turtle washed up on Ingoldmells beach

Giant leathery turtle washed up on Ingoldmells beach

Dead seals are common enough on the beaches of Skegness and Ingoldmells. We even had a dead whale once. But dead turtles! And not just any little old turtle that could be seen in a pet shop window, either, but a real honest-to-goodness giant turtle, looking like a cross between a midget submarine and grandpa sunbathing after the kids have buried his legs in the sand.
It was cast up on the beach at Jackson’s Corner over the weekend, with no obvious marks of injury, but very dead for all that. And most spectators on Monday had never seen anything like it outside a zoo.
The Standard heard about it from school teacher, Miss Pearman, of Seathorne Crescent, whose father had told her about it. Having examined the turtle and consulted the encyclopedia, Miss Pearman’s guess was “It’s a Leathery Turtle”.
We did a bit of consulting ourselves and found that the Leathery Turtle ( dermochelys coriacea) is of the marine species of true turtles of the family Chelonidae; as distinct from the Green turtle, from which the soup is sometimes made, and the Hawksbill Turtle, which proved tortoise shell for commerce.
Old Leathery is the grand-daddy of the species, the largest of its kind, growing to as much as 7 feet in length and weighing up to 1,000 ponds. This one must be around 6 feet long and 4 feet over the hump, and weighing - well, an awful lot!
Except to deposit eggs, they are never seen on land in the usual way, and choose sandy beaches in tropical waters. (Ingoldmells has a sandy beach but never claimed tropical waters.
The book adds that Leathery Turtles are only very occasional visitors to the British Isles, so ours either wanted to get away from the crowd, or just lost its way.
As it seems far too heavy to be washed back out to sea, its disposal may set Ingoldmells PC a weighty problem. Fortunately it is far enough away from the village to remove any doubts about which it is easier to move, the turtle or Ingoldmells…

leathery turtle