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- Many of the stranded hatchlings are being found in Struisbaai, in the Western Cape.
- Some of the little turtles have been covered in barnacles, with one of the hatchlings having been covered by barnacles three times its bodyweight.
- Most of the loggerheads will be treated at the conservation centre and more than R3 million needs to be raised for their rehabilitation.
- For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.
The 530th loggerhead turtle hatchling was rescued and delivered to the Two Oceans Aquarium over the weekend, setting a new record for the Turtle Conservation Centre.
Earlier in April, a storm in the Western Cape saw about 240 turtle hatchlings stranded on beaches in just a couple of days.
This quickly climbed to over 300 turtles, with some of the healthiest hatchlings being transported to uShaka Marine World in KwaZulu-Natal in order to make space for the rising numbers of turtles at the conservation centre's facilities in Cape Town.
The stranding season typically starts in late February and can stretch beyond July, with the average number of hatchlings that are found being 100. The first hatchling of this year's season was rescued on Muizenberg Beach in the first week of March, News24 previously reported.
While the record for stranded hatchlings was 250, this has now been surpassed with the 530th turtle being rescued, according to the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation's fundraising page.
Cold and endangered
The endangered turtles are born in the far north of KwaZulu-Natal and, if everything goes right, they ride the warm and fast Agulhas current first south and then out east into the Indian Ocean.
The storm that peaked on 7 April and involved almost two weeks of southeasterly winds in the Western Cape blew the turtles off course, out of the current that would have been 20 degrees and more, and into the icy Cape waters where surface temperatures can range between about 8 degrees and 15 degrees.
The hatchlings' bodies go into cold shock and they can't eat or hydrate. When they're in this compromised state, other marine animals can sap their energy even more – one hatchling was covered with goose barnacles three times its weight, according to the centre.
When these events occur, the hatchlings' only hope of survival is to wash up and be rescued. Even adult turtles never come up onto the beaches anywhere south of Sodwana in the north of KwaZulu-Natal unless they're in distress.
Barnacled baby
The little loggerhead covered in barnacles was rescued in Struisbaai over the weekend by one of the members of the foundation's Turtle Rescue Network.
"Our turtle team talked the rescuer through the process of gently removing the barnacles," the centre said. "Eventually, the rescuer removed a whopping 140g of goose barnacles from the hatchling, which only weighs 50g itself."
Fundamental for healthy ecosystems
With the oceans warming and coral reefs dying, sea turtles are a fundamental link in marine ecosystems, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
"They help maintain the health of seagrass beds and coral reefs that benefit commercially valuable species such as shrimp, lobster, and tuna. Sea turtles are the live representatives of a group of reptiles that have existed on Earth and travelled our seas for the last 100 million years," the WWF says on its website, adding:
Rest and rehabilitation
While only one in about 1 000 turtle hatchlings typically survives through to adulthood in the wild, the Turtle Conservation Centre with its hundreds of hatchlings can play a part in trying to better the odds in the turtles' favour.
READ | R3 million and counting: The amount needed for unprecedented number of stranded turtles
But it costs the centre about R10 000 to rescue and rehabilitate each hatchling over a period of six to eight months. Thereafter, they're released back into a warm ocean current toward the end of the year when the sea's movements are altered by the change in seasons. News24 previously reported that the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, of which the Turtle Conservation Centre is a part, had only budgeted for 100 stranded turtle hatchlings this year.
More than R3 million will now have to be raised to rehabilitate the turtles.
The public can help by donating through Given Gain.
Renée Bonorchis was contracted to the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation to manage its African penguin survival campaign in 2023. She also volunteers for its turtle conservation programme, is a member of the Turtle Rescue Network and is a marine sciences student with the aquarium. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the Two Oceans Aquarium, the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation or any of their affiliates.
