Two Oceans Aquarium rescues lo

Photo: Two Oceans Aquarium/Twitter

Two Oceans Aquarium rescues loggerhead turtle near Hout Bay

A big loggerhead sea turtle was recently rescued after it was spotted floating listlessly near Hout Bay.

Two Oceans Aquarium rescues lo

Photo: Two Oceans Aquarium/Twitter

The Two Oceans Aquarium recently rescued a loggerhead turtle floating near Hout Bay.

Rescuing a loggerhead turtle

The aquarium located at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town said that they spotted a loggerhead turtle floating “listlessly” near Hout Bay. It’s said that the turtle will now get all the help it needs at the aquarium with the Two Oceans Aquarium Education Foundation‘s rehab team. It is reported that the Education Foundation’s aim is to educate with the help of “inclusive education programmes, rigorous research practices, and dedicated conservation projects – such as rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing distressed sea turtles”.

When asked how old the turtle might be, the aquarium said that loggerhead turtles live really long – easily over 70 years.

“This one appears to be a male, and based on its size it could be in the 30-40 year age group. Once it’s had time to rest, the team will take proper measurements and check it fully for tags that could help narrow down that age.”

Yoshi the turtle’s almost 40 000 km oceanic journey continues

The South African previously reported on Yoshi, the extraordinary loggerhead turtle that was released from the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town in 2017, who recently racked up a swim of 38 898 km – that’s almost the circumference of the earth!

She has also completed more than 1.5 million imaginary swimming pool laps over the last 28 months.

According to a recent update form the aquarium, new data shows that Yoshi appears to have taken a temporary break from long-distance travel in the fertile feeding grounds of the Western Australia coastline and is currently near the famous Eighty Mile Beach – a 220 kilometre stretch of mainly pastoral and indigenous land.

The Bidyandanga indigenous community is the closest to Yoshi at the moment, and Dr Scott Whiting of Western Australias Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, who is following Yoshi’s travels right there in Australia, has notified the community’s rangers of Yoshi’s presence.

Yoshi’s satellite tag (a wildlife computer tag) continues to deliver incredible data, and together with the South African Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: Oceans and Coast, the aquarium has received more than 22 000 messages from more than 5 500 satellite passes. To this date, it looks like Yoshi has travelled a total distance of 38 898 km over the last 860 days, which still gives an average of 45 km per day for two years and 131 days straight.

‘THE LONGEST-EVER RECORDED JOURNEY’

According to the aquarium, Yoshi’s ocean journey has become the longest-ever recorded journey of any tracked animal ever. That’s right, this reptile has outdone the journey of any bird, fish or mammal ever recorded. 

“Yoshi remains the world’s most famous ocean traveller, and the search to find her to replace her tag has grown to include rangers from some of Australia’s indigenous communities,” they said further. “These rangers are now joining the growing community of conservationists actively tracking Yoshi in efforts to better understand the incredible migrations of wild loggerheads.”

Yoshi’s journey so far.