If you take a dive into the waters off of western Vancouver Island you may be lucky enough to see a creature most people didn’t know exists in B.C.

Leatherback sea turtles hatch in Indonesia, but spend much of their life along British Columbia’s coast.

The sea creatures can grow up to the size of a large vehicle and can easily adapt to cold water.

The endangered turtles have only been glimpsed 130 times since the 1930s, but researchers hope to increase that number through a new website.

“Possibly with the word getting out there that there are leatherbacks off the coast, there’s enhanced potential for reporting as well. That’s one of the aims of getting this out there,” Jacquie Hildering from the Marine Education and Research Society said.

According to research technician Lisa Spaven, the turtles are here to feed.

“The reason they’re here is to eat and they eat jellyfish. We don’t know a lot about jellyfish in B.C. and we don’t know a lot about leatherbacks and where they’re eating these jellyfish in B.C. So  reporting sightings is very high on the list of things we’d like to have done,” Spaven told CTV News.

The Marine Education and Research Society is working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to try to determine exactlywhere the turtles are. They also want to locate potential entanglement problems.

“Reporting ghost gear, derelict gear that’s in the water is very important,” Spaven added. “We have an observe, record, report line with Fisheries and Oceans Canada that we encourage anyone to call if they have any concerns about what they see out on the water.”

But the society says the biggest threat to the giants is plastic that can be mistaken for jellyfishmaking its way into the ocean

“The use of plastics could actually kill an endangered giant, but it’s also pretty compelling to get people to realize that, wait a minute, I never thought if I release a balloon where does that go? And the idea that that could kill,” Hildering said.

If you see a leatherback turtle you are asked to call 1-866-I-SAW-ONE.

You can also find more information about leatherback turtles here.