50-year-old turtle found off St Mike’s dies
The dedicated KZN Stranding Network are a beacon of hope for cases like this.
The large sea turtle recently rescued off St Mike’s, sadly died.
NSRI Shelly Beach were alerted to a large turtle that had stranded on St Mike’s beach.
The team responded swiftly and transported him to the uShaka Sea World turtle rehabilitation centre, but he unfortunately did not survive the night.
“The eyewitnesses at C-Bali restaurant are commended for alerting NSRI,” said Gary Wolmarans, NSRI Shelly Beach station commander.
uShaka Sea World lead aquarist, Malini Pather was on standby to receive the large turtle, weighing 100kg.
“The large male green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was weak, but not overly dehydrated.”
Pather said he had one visible lesion, but was carrying an extremely large parasite load. He is estimated to be more than 50 years old.
The cause of death is not yet certain, but this will hopefully be clearer once a post-mortem is performed.
Pather expressed her deep appreciation and gratitude to the incredible team that works tirelessly on cases like these.
They drove all the way on a Saturday night with a sliver of hope to save this ocean ambassador.
“The dedicated KZN Stranding Network are a beacon of hope for cases like this.”
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