19 Little Loggerheads Head Out To Sea

These young turtles, all Loggerheads, found themselves in trouble as they battled adverse sea conditions and ended up in the cold cape waters where they are unable to survive the icy temperatures. They were all found at different times and places on the Cape beaches by members of the public who took them to the Two Oceans Aquarium where they were treated and nourished back to health. Although they recovered well at Two Oceans Aquarium they needed to return home to the warmer waters of KZN as they are not designed to live in cold waters and need temperatures of around 22°C to survive. During the first few years of their life young Loggerhead turtles survive by floating in the open ocean feeding off small jellies, by-the-wind-sailors, blue bottles, raft hydroids and other small creatures found on the ocean’s surface and are well designed for life in the open ocean.

After arriving on a 1Time aircraft at uShaka Airport on Wednesday 27th October they spent the night in the hospital at Sea World where staff made sure that the journey had not adversely effected them and that they were in perfect health ahead of their big journey on Thursday. Great care has been taken in ensuring these turtles were given a second chance and it was with great joy the staff bid them farewell and lowered them into the water and watched them swim away into the deep blue.