New lease of life for rescued sea turtles
FIVE rehabilitated turtles have now been successfully released into De Hoop Nature Reserve – a marine-protected area – as part of an ongoing release programme at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation's Turtle Conservation Centre.
This came just a few days ahead of World Sea Turtle Day on Friday.
The Two Oceans Aquarium's Turtle Conservation Centre, CapeNature, the Morukuru Family De Hoop, and Morukuru Goodwill Foundation worked together to release two (green) turtles Amigo and Zelena on May 3, into at De Hoop after they were rescued off the coast.
The teams then returned on May 24 to release three more turtles, Siriti and Amber (hawksbills), and Coral (another green turtle) from the centre – making De Hoop the latest release site for rehabilitated turtles.
Talitha Noble, conservation manager of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation's Turtle Conservation Centre said turtles face many challenges in their rehabilitation process, with one of the most common being cold shock, which all turtles that have stranded along the coast experience.
“Dehydration, emaciation, infection and injuries are also natural reasons for stranding, and issues which are dealt with during rehabilitation.
Plastic ingestion and subsequent egestion is unfortunately also common for turtles placed in our care, often resulting in gut issues and damage when the plastic passes through their systems,” she said.
When examined by the veterinary team, Noble said Amigo was diagnosed with pneumocoelom – an air build up beneath the shell – and needed to undergo procedures to remove over a litre of excess gas and fluid.
“Zelena, a green turtle, was found severely emaciated at De Hoop Nature Reserve. She was severely dehydrated and had visible wounds to her body.
But with medical care and plenty of food, Zelena quickly started gaining weight and recovering,” Noble added.
The released turtles are in a comfortable temperate spot with good foraging opportunities to adjust back to riding the open ocean currents.
Ed and Anka Zeeman, owners of the Morukuru Family and founders of the Morukuru Goodwill Foundation, are supporters of the Turtle Conservation Centre and the adopters of Amigo. They carried Amigo down to the water, where he joined Zelena.
The De Hoop turtle release project has been a long time in the making and was declared a marine-protected area in 1985. The value of its marine environment has been recognised for some time but the teams believe it has more potential to strengthen turtle conservation along the southern coast.