Larry McKenna served for over 25 years in the United States Air Force before turning an international banker, real-estate and resort developer. In 2005 following an life-changing experience with a leatherback turtle in Raja Ampat he founded the Save Our Leatherbacks Operation. He was 70 at that time

Almost Gone
SOLO's founder, Larry McKenna, has also written a book about his beloved leatherbacks. Almost Gone is a true account of the plight of the Pacific Leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea; the world’s largest turtle and marine reptile.

About SOLO
Save Our Leatherbacks Operation's (SOLO) primary goal is to recognize and help correct the nesting issues on the beaches of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. The Leatherback sea turtle is the largest sea turtle and largest reptile on earth (females are over 2 m long, 3 m wide, and 1 m thick with weights ranging from 500 kg up to to 1000 kg in the males).

In prehistoric days these turtles numbered in the 100s of millions. Now, since 1998, the nesting population is well below 1,000 at the remaining, very remote beaches in Papua Barat, Indonesia. The science data is lagging by about 2 to 3 years. Find out more about the Leatherback sea turtle »

Our Expeditions since 2005 to the largest Pacific Leatherback nesting beaches have revealed a far more severe situation than has been reported by others. Baby Leatherback turtles and their eggs are being destroyed in vast numbers in their nests by global warming, egg poachers, and predators such as wild pigs and dogs. The result is a negative hatch rate, which places the entire regeneration of the species in the Pacific Ocean in jeopardy of extinction. We have just 2 to 3 years to reverse the trend, or this gentle giant will be lost forever.