Endangered Turtle Receiving Intensive Care at Exploris Aquarium after Beach Stranding                                                  

Daniel Johnston and his daughter discovered the stranded juvenile loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ) on January 12th 2019 off the north coast of Ireland, Co. Donegal. A team from Exploris Aquarium Portaferry, Co. Down was sent to rescue to turtle. It was captured and brought to the aquarium to be treated for cold-stunning. The turtle will remain in critical care for several more weeks to allow for its core temperature to be raised.

In a statement, the Exploris Aquarium Curator, Peter Williams said “We would like to take this opportunity to tell the public to keep their eyes peeled for anymore loggerheads which may be in our seas. If you come across anything please get in touch with your local environmental authority, wildlife rescue service or public aquarium”.

The loggerhead is an endangered sea turtle that is usually found in the warmer waters of the mid-Atlantic(Varo-Cruz et al., 2013)and was most likely caught amongst the currents of the Gulf Stream and carried hundreds of kilometres outside its traditional migration route(Lohmann, Hester, & Lohmann, 1999). Loggerheads spend between six to twelve years at sea maturing and avoiding the predation associated with more coastal waters(Wyneken, 2000). They travel around the North Atlantic Basin where food is plentiful before returning to land to dig nests and lay their eggs(Lohmann, Cain, Dodge, & Lohmann, 2001).

Upon the recovery of the loggerhead turtle, the rescue team at Exploris Aquarium hope to release it into the warmer waters of the Atlantic, nearby to the Mediterranean.

References

Lohmann, K. J., Cain, S. D., Dodge, S. A., & Lohmann, C. M. F. (2001). Regional magnetic fields as navigational markers for sea turtles. Science . https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064557

Lohmann, K. J., Hester, J. T., & Lohmann, C. M. F. (1999). Long-distance navigation in sea turtles. Ethology Ecology and Evolution . https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.1999.9522838

Varo-Cruz, N., Hawkes, L. A., Cejudo, D., López, P., Coyne, M. S., Godley, B. J., & López-Jurado, L. F. (2013). Satellite tracking derived insights into migration and foraging strategies of male loggerhead turtles in the eastern Atlantic. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2013.02.046

Wyneken, J. (2000). The migratory behaviour of hatchlings beyond the beach. 2nd ASEAN Symposium .