We are currently caring for six sub adult green turtles with various health concerns in our rehabilitation facility.
Each turtle is housed separately in an appropriately sized pool thereby enabling us to individually monitor their health, administer medication and perform diagnostics. Turtles spend anything from a few weeks to a few years in rehab.
Ma’ia arrived on the 6th December 2020 after stranding on a beach at Bhanganek. When she was found she had a woven plastic sack wrapped around her left front flipper which unfortunately had to be amputated. Ma’ia is doing extremely well and has even spent some time in the aquarium’s turtle lagoon. She is currently in hospital learning how to target feed which will enable us to continue managing her health on exhibit.
Loki who arrived on the 1st July 2020 after being found on Zinkwazi Beach was positively buoyant and lethargic on arrival. He is now able to dive and spends lots of time looking for things on which to scratch his plastron. He loves food and will eat anything and everything that we offer him.
Thor was brought in by KZN Wildlife, from Twin Streams Beach in Mtunzini on the 17th August 2021. Thor is still positively buoyant and has started trying to dive but is not yet able to stay submerged for prolonged periods of time. He is currently everybody’s favourite and seems to enjoy interacting with the hospital staff.
Hela came in completely exhausted on the 26th August 2021 from Zinkwazi. It is therefore understandable that she has made little progress over the past three weeks. Although she has started eating and makes occasional attempts at diving, she is still very weak.
Two weeks later Harley was found on the same beach as Hela. Harley was the most compromised all the six turtles on arrival. She rests for most of the day but thankfully has started eating.
Sarah, our most recent patient, was admitted on the 15th September after being found on the beach at Umkomaas. Although she has shown some signs of improvement since her arrival, we suspect that one of her lungs has collapsed and are treating her accordingly.
