News from Newquay
RARE TURTLE RESCUED FROM CORNISH BEACH
A rare loggerhead turtle has been discovered stranded on a Cornish beach.
The turtle, which measures more than half a metre in length, is being looked after by marine experts at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay.
Keepers have named him James Bond after the official stranding number of 007 he was allocated by the Marine Strandings Network.
He was discovered on Blackrock Beach near Bude by a woman taking her dog for an early morning walk. She contacted the coastguard who in turn called the British Marine Life Rescue charity.
On arrival, volunteers from the BDMLR realised the animal, which was found in a mound of seaweed and covered in oil, was in a severely weakened state and called the aquarium to see if they could look after it.
After an initial examination and treatment by vets at the Clifton Villas Vet practice in Newquay the turtle is now being looked after in a specially heated quarantine tank by keepers at the aquarium.
Blue Reef curator Matt Slater said: "It's going to be a major operation to try and nurse him back to health but it's worth it for such an amazing animal.
"If James survives these first few crucial days and weeks, we will be able to start thinking about how and when we will be able to safely return him to the sea - we may even have to look at airlifting it over to America"
Loggerhead turtles can reach lengths in excess of a metre. They are carnivorous feeding on crabs, shellfish, molluscs and jellyfish. Their main nesting sites are in Oman in the middle east and Florida in the US.
Loggerhead turtles are rare in UK waters but their numbers, along with other warm water species do seem to be on the rise. Experts think this particular animal has probably travelled over from America in the milder waters of the Gulf Stream.
"It's extremely fortunate he was resuced because loggerheads simply would not be able to survive for any length of time in British waters. They are prone to hypothermia and are also extremely vulnerable to getting caught in fishing nets and other marine flotsam and jetsam" added Matt.
This will be the sixth rescued turtle the aquarium has looked after in recent years. Others have been successfully rehabilitated and returned to the wild.
