Don’t miss Turtle Road Trip
Don't miss the Turtle Road Trip. Organised by the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, the road trip has a stop in Mossel Bay on Sunday, 4 March. You can attend an interesting talk on turtles at The Granary in the Dias Museum Complex on that day at 12:00.
Every year, thousands of loggerhead and leatherback turtles hatch on the beaches of northern KwaZulu-Natal.
They head to sea and are carried southward by the warm Agulhas current. Facing high levels of predation and strong currents, many hatchlings find themselves off the south coast - stunned by the cold, weak and often injured. Many inevitably wash up and are stranded on beaches.
Without help, these stranded hatchlings have no chance of survival.
The Two Oceans Aquarium conservation team came up with the plan to undertake a Turtle Road Trip from Muizenberg to Plettenberg Bay, to speak to community members who may find these stranded turtles, to educate them and equip them.
They are making 10 stops along the coast and Mossel Bay is one of them.
"Be part of the sea turtle loving network," the conservation team urges.
For more information contact Renée Leeuwner at the Two Oceans Aquarium (021 418 3823 or renee.leeuwner@aquarium. co.za).
Also see www.aquarium.co.za
In Mossel Bay and surrounds, it is the Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team (S.M.A.R.T.) that rescues, rehabilitates and releases turtles. If you see a turtle on the beach, contact the team (072 227 4715) immediately.
You should not put a turtle back into the sea yourself because it could require medical attention first and may die if it is placed back in the ocean.