MOSSEL BAY  NEWS - More baby turtles have been found along the south coast, this time on the beach near Boggomsbaai.
The George Herald reported recently on baby turtles spotted on the Wilderness beach.
Five baby Loggerhead turtles were found near Boggomsbaai and were brought in by Leon Claassens and Henry Salt, student guides of the Oystercatcher Trail. They were taken to Arno Munro of the Mossel Bay Maritime Museum who intends sending them to the uShaka marine theme park in Durban.
At the same time, Enrico Gennari of Ocean’s Research in Mossel Bay received five other baby Loggerheads as well as two rare Hawksbill turtles. These are being transported to the aquarium in Cape Town.
According to Fred Orban, local marine expert, the Loggerheads are about a month to six weeks old and were most likely hatched at St Lucia in KZN. These turtles are often blown in by the east winds this time of year and then wash up on our beaches.

Bring baby turtles in
"It is pointless putting them back in the waves as they will just wash out again to become prey for sea gulls and other predators. If anyone finds these turtles on the beach, please do not try and feed them as they live off blue bottles and sea snails in the ocean currents," says Orban.
The public is requested to take live specimens either to SharkLab at the Point in Mossel Bay or to the Mossel Bay Maritime Museum. They should be brought in as soon as possible in a water container or even a bucket or cool box with sea water.
In the past, turtles were also transported by trawler and put back in the Agulhas current 40 to 80 kilometres off-shore to allow them to continue their tough journey for survival around the southern oceans.
"Loggerheads are highly endangered and the more we can do to help them in their quest for survival, the greater the chance of helping them not to become extinct in our life time," says Orban.

Interesting facts
The baby turtles travel with the ocean currents for about three to four years before returning again to their place of birth to start the reproduction cycle all over again.
As adults they grow to a length of 1,2 metres and attain a weight of about 140 kg. The survival rate is very low due to the pressure of man and their natural predators. Often they die cruel deaths because of mistaking floating plastic bags for jelly fish. The Loggerheads are endemic to the southern coastline of South Africa. The Hawksbill turtles prefer to lay their eggs on the Mozambique coast and on Madagascar and the adjacent islands.

Article: Melissa Hills