Wasabi Update!

A while ago we told you all about our little jet setter, Wasabi, a young Green turtle who was rescued from Muizenberg Beach in Cape Town, and made quite an entrance, by plane no less!

The latest addition to our crew has Wasabi, a young Green turtle who was found stranded on Muizenberg beach and was taken to the Two Oceans Aquarium, but due to their water being colder and Wasabi suffering from chronic arthritis, and it was decided to move her to Sea World.

On 14th July 2010 she boarded a plane from Cape Town to Durban and to the amazement of the other passengers took her seat amongst them. She landed safely and was promptly whisked away to Sea World!

She is quite easy to identify amongst the other turtles in the Turtle Lagoon Exhibit as she is the biggest of the three Green Turtles and spends much of her time trying to ensure that she is on good terms with everyone. When she arrived she had been accustomed to an exclusive fish diet which needed to be changed to include a high percentage of vegetables as Green Turtles are herbivores from the age of two years.

Much like trying to get a toddler to eat spinach, this proved no easy task for her caregivers but seeing as she is such a clever turtle she soon learned to station (come to a particular position) so she could be hand fed by one of the aquarists. Ever on the lookout in case any of the other turtles are being given fish whilst she dutifully eats her spinach, she is making the change from fish to vegetables slowly but surely.

There is a marked improvement in her ability to move her flipper since she arrived which is attributed to the warmer water temperatures, the daily dose of medication and vitamins in her food and of course her spinach.

We will keep you updated in the next few months – by which time we hope to report that more than 50% of her diet is vegetarian!