The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation has called for public assistance in rescuing sea turtle hatchlings that are washing up on beaches across the province.
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The non-profit organisation explained that the Western Cape is in ‘stranding season’, from March to June, which happens after loggerhead turtles hatch.
According to the aquarium, loggerhead turtles usually hatch on beaches in Northern KwaZulu-Natal and are carried south by the Agulhas current. Some of these hatchlings wash up on the beaches around the Western Cape due to injury, hyperthermia and dehydration.
However, this year’s stranding season started early and the foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre received the first hatchlings of the season late last month.
As a result, Turtle Conservation Centre Manager Talitha Noble told IOL that the foundation was calling on beach users to keep their eyes open for these tiny hatchlings.
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‘We encourage the public to call the Turtle Rescue Hotline to report stranded or distressed sea turtles on the Western Cape coast,’ Noble said.
‘The Turtle Network Co-ordinator will give you the information you need and coordinate efforts to get the turtle into the hands of trained veterinary staff at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation Turtle Conservation Centre.’
The centre works to rescue, rehabilitate and release the turtles back into the open ocean.
The public are urged not to put the turtle back in the water or give them any shade, food or water.
Turtles should also not be transported as they are a TOP-listed species, which means that a Threatened or Protected Species permit is required from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to do so.
Instead, the public is urged to contact the Turtle Rescue Hotline at 0833001663.
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Picture: Two Oceans Aquarium / Facebook
