Could Pemba – the uShaka turtle – be heading for Brazil?

PEMBA, an Olive Ridley turtle that was rehabilitated at uShaka Marine World in Durban and released back into the ocean, has reached the Angolan border.

Pemba was released at Mabibi in KwaZulu-Natal on March 8 last year. She was brought to the Two Oceans Aquarium in the Cape after being knocked by a boat and damaging her shell.

Maryke Musson, the curator of Two Oceans Aquarium, said Pemba wasted no time and jumped into the mighty Agulhas current straight away.

Musson said this liquid conveyor belt moved her past Mossel Bay by March 20 and she was south of Cape Town by March 24.

The tracking device that was fitted to Pemba revealed that she spent a month exploring the southern ocean and started heading up the west coast in May.

“She explored closely inshore, near Doringbaai, towards the end of May, before veering offshore. She crossed the Walvis ridge by the end of October and has since made her way across the Atlantic. She is currently 1 906km west of the Namibian/Angolan border and 3 515km east of Brazil. She has travelled more than 12 700km,” said Musson.

“Pemba has been back in the ocean for 333 days already and it looks like she is heading towards Brazil, where there are quite a few Olive Ridley nesting sites.

“She has a nice strong easterly wind behind her at the moment and I’m sure she is loving the 25°C water she finds herself in. Pemba was a challenging medical case – and it is lovely to see her crossing oceans. Credit must go to the fantastic efforts by the veterinarian staff and turtle teams at both the Two Oceans Aquarium and uShaka Sea World,” Musson said.