Emergency Rescue: Saving Endangered Turtles

Introduction 

With a polluted ocean the increase in turtles that need rescuing and access to rehabilitation is constantly increasing. Our team provide the outreach and awareness within the community to ensure people know not to put a Turtle in the Ocean if washed up as they will not survive. Instead we fund a local emergency team to rescue these beautiful animals that often find themselves tied up in fishing line or eaten plastic and struggling to survive

Report 

This project is rescuing and rehabilitating turtles to prevent them from dying due to pollution in the ocean. The long term goal is to ensure these turtles to not become endangered. Check out our latest release in partnership with the Coast Guard Rescue and Local Aquarium. Yoshi was released and we tracked him all the way back to Australia!

Thank you for your support

Whilst most people have slowed down due to COVID-19, that is not the case for Talitha Noble and her conservation efforts. This November, Talitha Noble will be taking the plunge into the frosty Atlantic Ocean and swimming from Robben Island to mainland South Africa, attempting to raise funds for conservation.

This is no small feat as she will be embarking upon a 7.5km swim through icy water to raise funds for sea turtle rescue, in particular for one incredible turtle named Bob. Bob the turtle was rescued in 2014 and has been an iconic resident at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town ever since…however, this has by no means an easy ride for this beautiful creature.

Bob was found washed up on the rocks of De Hoop Nature Reserve, even though the team did all they could to help, Bob, unfortunately, developed an infection from his wounds which, sadly, resulted in him losing his eyesight. Undeterred and more dedicated than ever, the turtle rescue team, alongside Talitha have been working to help rehabilitate Bob so that he may eventually return to the wild (hopefully in 2021). This requires a lot of resources as well as specialized doctors and assistance to ensure that Bob has the highest chance of survival after being released into the wild. Consequently, this is not a cheap expense which is why we admire everything Talitha is doing to help Bob and future generations of turtles. Please help us by donating anything you can to her fundraiser and please do share it with friends and family as every penny goes a long way to helping Bob get swimming in the beautiful ocean again. 

Bob has been an amazing ambassador for our oceans, conservation and plastic awareness with children from all over coming to meet him and hear his story. He is the turtle that had eaten so much plastic! We are so excited to see how our team’s efforts pay-off and look forward to the successful rehabilitation of our boy, Bob.

We want to say a big thank you to all our donors and supporters, without you none of this would be possible and remember if you can give a little extra then make a note in the diary for 1st December #givingtuesday when GlobalGiving will be matching donations for our project. 

Dear Supporters,

This month we focus on our turtle project in South Africa. This project supports our Turtle conservation across Africa, Asia and Latin America but since COVID we have been very busy in South Africa and your donations have been working hard to save the lives of these special creatures. 

Loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles are the most common to nest along the northern Kwa-Zulu Natal African coast during summer months, and thousands of turtle hatchlings enter the warm and very fast flowing Agulhas current during January and February. Some of these hatchlings wash up on beaches in the Western Cape, usually very weak, dehydrated and very cold. These baby turtles require tender loving care and often medical intervention, to save their lives, and that is exactly what we do at the rehabilitation facility, our turtle hospital and we are fast approaching this season but funding is extremely low due to funders diverting funds due to COVID-19. Our project team ensures transport of these little patients to our hospital in Cape Town, and after a full medical assessment we initiate appropriate treatments. We often see hatchlings with physical injuries such as partial amputations of their flippers, plastic ingestion, respiratory tract infections, ear infections and hypothermia.

The hatchlings usually stay with us until after winter, so they have enough time to heal and grow a lot bigger and stronger before release, when it is summer again and the water is nice and warm. Releasing healthy rehabilitated turtles back into the ocean is one of the most rewarding experiences ever but looking after them for this long period of time comes at a cost and we are purely funded by donations like yours. 

We also get subadult and adult sea turtles washing up on our shore. These turtles usually suffer from extensive external physical injuries such as boat strikes or from ghost fishing gear, or they suffer from plastic ingestion. We have had Loggerhead, Green, Olive Ridley and Hawksbill subadult and adult turtles arrive at our turtle hospital and your donations allow us to help rehabilitate them and track them as they have re-entered the wild.

These adults usually require much more intensive care, from MRI’s to drydocking to surgeries and often spend months with us. We have been satellite tagging most of the larger turtles and can confidently say that they adapt back to life in the ocean incredibly well. Following their post-rehabilitation journeys contributes to a global database of turtle movement in the ocean. Over the last decade we have successfully rehabilitated and released more than 600 endangered sea turtles.

A core function of this project is to create awareness around the threats to sea turtles worldwide and inspiring communities to care and contribute to saving sea turtles by reducing the use of single-use plastics and participating in beach cleans and this is where our Emergency Appeal: Tackling a Plastic Ocean project links to this one.

Out turtle patients and released turtles have become ambassadors for the environment bringing about positive social change to save the ocean and the planet. 

All your donations will go towards the cost of sea turtle rescues, rehabilitation and medical treatments, creating awareness and turtle releases. Total turtle rescue costs per annum: US$ 60 000 and you help us survive! 

Did you know that only about one to two out of every 1000 sea turtle hatchlings survive to maturity. We continue to improve on our treatment protocols and have achieved an incredible 80% release rate. Please help us continue to save these turtles. 

Please take a look at our Saving Turtles infographic.

Thank you for all your support, fundraisers and donations,

With Gratitude,

Turtle Rescue

Dear Supporters,

You might remember the film ‘Finding Nemo’ this was a great introduction to a few of the marine animals in the Ocean and it really showcased Turtles. This is our first report and we are excited to have seen 18 donations already come in from you all.  

Turtles every day find their home polluted with plastic and waste from us on land. They don’t know why it pollutes their home, where it comes from, but become victim of getting tangled and stressed from so much litter. We work with a number of volunteers and partners that cover the coast of South Africa to respond and rescue Turtles in need of emergency. The majority of these Turtles are loggerheads but we have identified 4 other types of turtle over the past decade on the African coast. Although this project is new for us it has been working over the past 10 years on a smaller scale with rescuing 600 turtles and installing many recovered sub-adults and adults with satellite tagging before being released so we can track their journey and survival back into the wild. 

With pollution taking up more and more space of our ocean our turtles are suffering, eating plastic as well as getting tangled up in fishing lines and other dangerous rubbish. The need for an emergency service to track the coastlines and provide rescue to turtles in need is fast growing and this is why the funds from you all are now on their way to our head station in Cape Town to help cover the call out costs and equipment needed to rehabilitate the turtles as well as cover the cost of a satellite tag that costs around £250. It costs us around 995,000 South African Rand (£45,000) a year to keep this project going and your donations are going directly to keep us out and about and saving the lives of turtles.

Thank You!

With Gratitude,

Turtles