Durban - Once pre-release medicals are completed, uShaka Sea World will apply for release permits for the young green turtle that was found lying upside down on a Richards Bay beach during KwaZulu-Natal’s April floods.
The turtle, Toby, was found lying upside down on the beach on April 12.
uShaka’s Ann Kunz said at the time of Toby’s stranding, it was impossible to travel from Richards Bay to Durban so she was cared for in Richards Bay for two days until the roads were safe enough for travel.
Kunz said that under the guidance of the turtle rehabilitation staff, she was kept safe and warm and given freshwater baths to help with rehydration and left to rest.
“On arrival at uShaka Sea World, Toby was a little tired but otherwise appeared to be healthy with no physical injuries. Toby’s carapace was free of both algal growth and epibiota, but she was unfortunately positively buoyant and unable to dive,” Kunz said.
“Radiographs revealed gas in her coelomic cavity. As Toby’s blood didn’t reveal anything of concern, we opted to allow Toby time to rest and regain her strength by providing supportive care.”
“Toby is currently undergoing her pre-release medicals and once these are completed, we will apply for her relevant release permits.”
Lead aquarist Malini Pather said: “Toby's recovery was a rapid one and we are so excited that she is almost ready for release. We are very grateful that the Ison family from Richards Bay were able to assist us with this rescue and that Toby was able to remain safe until she could be transported to the turtle hospital.”
Pather said that they relied on the support of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Stranding Network to co-ordinate rescues, without which, their ability to help stranded turtles would be a lot more challenging.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the KZN Marine Stranding Network was alerted to a dead adult female leatherback turtle that had washed up in a decomposed state at the Trafalgar Marine Protected Area on the South Coast.
The cause of her death could not be established as the carcass was in an advanced state of decomposition.
The network said that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff attended the scene and upon closer examination discovered that she had a flipper tag.
The turtle had been tagged by turtle monitors on the nesting beaches of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park as part of the Ezemvelo Turtle Monitoring Programme.
“From the unique tag number, it was determined that she had successfully nested only once on the night of December 11, 2021, approximately 40km south of the South African/Mozambican border at 9.39pm,” the network said.
It said that it was quite possibly the first season the turtle nested as that tagging sequence was the only entry in the turtle tagging database and she bore no indications of any previous tagging attempts.
“It is a sad end to a story where this leatherback, which would have emerged as a hatchling on the same beaches some 14-20 years ago, made it back to lay at least one nest of eggs that we know of,” the network said.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife added that the information collected on-site will feed back into their understanding of population structure and further their efforts to conserve the species.
Daily News