Education on sea turtles

TWO Oceans Aquarium teams will embark on a week-long turtle road trip to educate people about these sea creatures.

The aquarium’s environmental outreach educators and Turtle Rescue Programme team will travel between the coastal communities of the Southern Cape to educate a new generation of turtle rescuers for the upcoming stranding season.

The road trip will be from March 4 to 9 and will see the teams visit hundreds of schools, as well as communities along the coast.

Two Oceans Aquarium spokesperson Renée Leeuwner said last year they had their first turtle road trip.

“The reason for doing this is to educate the public along our coast on what to do if they find a turtle on the beach. We get them each year, from this time until about March.

“They get washed up from the Natal coast, and because the water here is too cold for them, they usually need rehabilitation.”

She said because turtles are temperate animals, like snakes, they prefer warm temperatures and their immune systems are compromised in colder conditions.

“Our first priority is to release them after rehab – we don’t want to keep them. When they come in they are very cold, they are often injured and we seeing more and more that have ingested plastic.

“That is a very big problem. Some have growths on them and they are too weak. We rehydrate them and get them eating, and treat any injuries.”

Leeuwner said if a turtle is found on a beach, it will probably be sick, and members of the public should not put it back in the water.

“Keep it dry and put it in a container with lots of air holes. They have lungs, just like us, and can breathe out of the water.

“Keep it at room temperature and, if there is a bay station in your area, take it there and they will get it to us. Try and take note of when and where it was found.” |