Find out where Yoshi is now
YOSHI, the loggerhead turtle, is probably having a feeding frenzy as she travels in shallower water off the coast of Angola.
According to the Two Oceans Aquarium team, Yoshi appears to be enjoying her time along the Angolan coast and has been zig-zagging a lot along the way.
“Last week she was approximately 30km offshore in warm 28°C deep water, but she has since moved inshore to milder 24°C waters.
“It is much shallower where she currently finds herself, so yet again she is probably having a bit of a feeding frenzy,” the aquarium said.
Yoshi, one of the Two Oceans Aquarium’s most famous and beloved former inhabitants, was released in December, about 27 nautical miles off Hout Bay. Along with the 183kg Yoshi, 27 rehabilitated hatchling loggerhead turtles were released.
Given Yoshi’s age, her excellent health, and her display of certain behaviours, the aquarium decided it was time for her to be released back into the ocean.
She was fitted with a satellite tag, as researchers hope to track her journey for up to three years.
Yoshi was the size of a dinner plate when she arrived at the aquarium in 1996.
She was handed over by a chef, named Yoshi, on board a fishing vessel in Table Bay harbour, after whom she was later named.
The aquarium’s latest tracker update shows that Yoshi has been at sea for 147 days, covering a total distance of 4000km.
Since she has reached warmer waters with more food, her average daily distance travelled has dropped from about 29km/day to 27km/ day. There is a gentle current from the north, which Yoshi is swimming against, but she has the wind behind her.
“Loggerhead turtles are omnivorous and feed on bottom-dwelling invertebrates such as sea snails, mussels and crabs. They have the most varied list of prey of all the sea turtle species.
“Loggerheads are also known to enjoy eating corals, sea sponges, anemones, barnacles, urchins, jellyfish and squid.
“Yoshi, of course, loved redbait, a species of ascidian or sea squirt. Warmer waters increase a turtle’s digestion and metabolic rates, so Yoshi will consume more food as she finds herself in increasingly tropical waters as she migrates further north,” the team said.