uShaka admits four green turtles in one week
Due to the severity of their situations, two of the green turtles passed away within hours of arrival.
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FOUR green turtles, of varying sizes, were taken in by the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr) at uShaka Sea World in the past seven days alone.
The first of the four was a female adult green turtle, that was soon after named Stella by staff members.
“Stella was found floating upside down in a rock pool at Zinkwazi last Thursday. The Search and Rescue Unit kindly drove her to uShaka Sea World. Although we found no irregularities with her bloods or radiographs, she was positively buoyant and unable to dive,” said Saambr’s senior quarantine aquarist, Malini Pather.
She said the turtle has since settled down, is feeding and the team remains cautiously optimistic that Stella will make a full recovery.
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The second turtle to arrive was a sub adult green turtle, also from Zinkwazi.
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“Unfortunately, her prognosis on admission was poor and she succumbed to her illness the next day. We did a full necropsy and are awaiting the final results,” said Pather.
The third is a tiny green turtle that was named Shelley. Estimated to be about two months old, she was found battling the surf at uMhlanga Beach. Judging by her age, the team believe that she is far off from her natural course.
“She has had a tough journey so far as three of her flippers have been bitten,” said Pather.
Her two hind flippers are reportedly still in relatively good condition but the front right flipper is badly damaged and a portion of the bone is missing.
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“We are still concerned about the possibility of an infection to the exposed joint and unsure whether she will require surgery. In the meantime, we are doing our best to get her strong and healthy. Thankfully turtles are able to cope well in the wild with amputated limbs,” said Pather.
The fourth turtle, the largest one to be admitted to uShaka Sea World died a few hours after arrival.
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