Nebs is off to new waters
If Nebs the green turtle could talk he’ll have quite a tale to tell his hatchlings one day. His misadventures in faraway Northland, how he was rescued and put into turtle rehab, twice, how a satellite transmitter was glued to his shell, and how he was released back into his ocean home while hundreds of humans cheered from the beach.
Nebs regained his freedom at noon yesterday at Rangiputa Beach, on the Karikari Peninsula, carried into the shallows by students from Taipa Area School.
Nebs first stranded at Muriwai, West Auckland, in 2011. He received emergency treatment at Auckland Zoo and was rehabilitated at Kelly Tarlton’s before being released off Cape Brett in 2013. He swam around Cape Reinga before his transmitter failed in 2014, reappearing in Auckland’s Manukau Harbour when he was hooked by fisherman in 2015.
Yesterday’s release, watched by more than 200 people including a preschool and Taipa Area School pupils, marked the end of Nebs’ second spell in rehab.
Dan Godoy, a Massey University marine scientist, said the juvenile turtle, which weighed about 23kg and measured 55cm along its shell, was looking really good.
“It didn’t speed off, it just cruised and took plenty of breaths.” Nebs was followed by a drone as he hung around for a few minutes 100m offshore then propelled himself into deeper water.
Dr Godoy said Nebs would be tracked for about a year as part of a project looking into postrelease dispersal and survival of marine turtles.
Yesterday also marked the launch of Dr Godoy’s new project, Flying High to Sea Below, which taught children to use drones in marine applications such as mapping habitats and looking for turtles.
Schools at Te Hapua, Ngataki, Kaitaia and Taipa are involved. The project was based in the Far North because it was an “awesome community” right behind turtle rescues and research, he said.
Senior ranger Shayne Storey, of DoC’s Kaitaia office, said it was fantastic to see so many children learning about turtles and how important it was to keep plastic out of the ocean.
About a third of turtles that stranded had ingested plastic, she said. Typically six turtles stranded in New Zealand each year, mostly on Ninety Mile Beach. Last year 13 stranded.
Anyone who found a turtle on the beach should call 0800 DOC HOT immediately and not try pushing it back out to sea. While sea turtles spent part of their lifecycle in New Zealand waters they only ended up on land if they were unwell.
Dr Godoy’s project is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Curious Minds programme, which encourages young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is run in conjunction with AUT which operates the drones.