Cape Town - After 60 days at sea, Bob the beloved green turtle has rounded the Cape Peninsula and seemed to be on track to pass closely by his rehabilitation home at the Two Oceans Aquarium.
Tuesday marked a milestone for Bob, as the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation and Bob’s supporters celebrated his 60-days, or exactly two months, back in the wild.
Bob was released into the ocean in January after spending eight years in rehabilitation at the Two Oceans Aquarium following his rescue off a beach at De Hoop Nature Reserve.
Bob was released in the uThukela Marine Protected area which is situated just North of Durban.
After exploring the warm waters of the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, including the many Marine Protected Areas in the region, Bob found the fast-moving Agulhas Current and rode it all the way back to Cape waters.
The Aquarium team said after 60 days, Bob rounded the Cape Peninsula and seemed to be on track to pass closely by his rehabilitation home.
“But just before reaching his rehabilitation home, he turned west exploring over the Agulhas ridge into the deep blue. In a 60-day adventure of firsts, this is a new breakthrough for Bob as he braves the open ocean swimming in water at a depth spanning 3800m,” said the Aquarium.
Turtle Conservation Centre Manager at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, Talitha Nobel, said: “He didn’t take long to get comfortable with his new expansive surroundings, adventuring further north along the coast from Blythedale to Princes Grant tempted by the abundant algal beds along that coastline, he passed the Tugela River into the most protected part of the uThukela Marine Protected Area.”
The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation has been keeping track of Bob’s movements through four tags including a flipper tag, a Passive Integrated Transponder tag, an ATAP acoustic tag and a satellite tag.
Cape Times