The Two Oceans Aquarium Turtle Rescue Team teamed up with Consol Glass, CapeNature and Overstrand Municipality to put an information board up at Grotto Beach in Hermanus to highlight sea-turtle facts and to educate the public on how to save a sea turtle.
The information board explains what people can do if they find a stranded hatchling on a beach. The golden rule of finding a turtle or hatchling is never to put it back in the ocean (even if they seem dead).
Two Oceans Aquarium rescue coordinator Tracy Whitehead advised people “when returning from the beach, place it in a plastic tub on a piece of dry towel and phone the hotline number to find your nearest drop-off network point. Do not wet, wash, feed or try to clean it. Keep it out of the wind and sunlight.”
The unveiling of the sea-turtle information board was preceded by a week-long “turtle road trip” to visit schools and to conduct ranger and field guide training for wildlife rehabilitater Michelle Watson and her team of the Kogelberg Wildlife Rescue Group, members of Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, CapeNature and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Marine and coastal monitors based in Kleinmond.
Talitha Noble, Conservation Manager at Two Oceans Aquarium, said the foundation also rehabilitates sub-adults and adult turtles slightly later in the year than the hatchlings.
“Vital information about the species is gathered during rescue and rehabilitation along with further insight into the ingestion of small pieces of plastic, including balloons”, she added.
After many months of rehabilitation, and when turtles are cleared for release by the Two Oceans Aquarium veterinary team, some are fitted with satellite or acoustic transmitters or microchipped.
“All this allows us to learn more about the natural movements of these animals,” she said, “helping to make better-informed decisions for the protection of these endangered species in future.”
Talitha emphasised the ultimate aim of its turtle rescue, rehabilitation and release programme is to get all of our turtles back into the ocean.
Overstrand Municipality, with the South African Shark Conservancy in Hermanus and African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS) in Gansbaai, will ensure the turtles are temporarily housed until their move to the Two Oceans Aquarium, where they will be rehabilitated until strong and healthy.
They will be sent to uShaka Sea World in Durban where they are released into the warmer waters off KwaZulu-Natal. The turtle-rescue hotline is 083 300 1663.
