Published records of the leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys
coriacea (Vandelli 1761) in the Mediterranean are few, particularly
in comparison to those of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta
(Casale & Margaritoulis 2010). However, these records indicate
that leatherbacks occur throughout the basin, from the Gibraltar
Strait to the easternmost part, and enter the basin at a relatively large
size (large juveniles/adults), with no evidence of breeding in the
Mediterranean (Casale et al. 2003). The species is classified globally
as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(Wallace et al. 2013). Mediterranean leatherbacks are considered
part of the north-Atlantic regional management unit of this species,
categorized as Low risk–Low threat (Wallace et al. 2011).
Leatherbacks have been reported from the Ionian and the Aegean
Seas, including coastal areas. In Greece, all published records have
concerned dead animals, usually stranded on beaches (Margaritoulis
1986). Information on the diving behavior of leatherbacks at
non-breeding grounds is limited, derived from satellite tracking or
animal-borne cameras, and most of the information is from postnesting
females (Fossette et al. 2010; Heaslip et al. 2012; Shillinger
et al. 2011). Here, we report an encounter with a leatherback in
the semi-enclosed Gulf of Corinth, Greece, contributing one of the
few detailed observations of a live individual of this species in the
entire Mediterranean region
