Local ambulance service, Med-Evac went above and beyond the call of duty to save the life of an injured turtle in Port Shepstone last Wednesday.

An urgent call is now made to jet-skis and speedboats to slow down and respect the No Wake Zone after the turtle was found with a shattered shell in the Mzimkhulu River.
A few days prior to the incident, Lana van Zyl of Med-Evac was with a group of kayakers when they saw the turtle swimming in the river.

After viewing video footage of the turtle floating around among kayakers, it was noticed it appeared to be in distress.

Lana was joined by Nici Jammine (also from Med-Evac) in search of the turtle, as Lana had spotted it earlier that same Wednesday morning while at the river. After paddling around, they found the large turtle near the river mouth.

“We didn’t realise the weight of the turtle, and I jumped into the water to try lift it up,” said Lana.

Glen Preston of Med-Evac heard his staff needed help and brought the company’s boat ‘God’s Grace’ to the rescue.

A call to NSRI Shelly Beach saw Bjorn Thaumuller jumping in to assist as well.

Once the turtle (weighing quite a bit) was on the boat, it was noticed it was indeed injured, it had a shattered shell.

“It was quite an ordeal, we spent almost two hours in the water. But what a magical experience and I’m so lucky to work with a team that cares and will go the extra mile, even to save an animal,” said Lana.

The entire team drove in the NSRI response vehicle with the struggle buoyant green turtle to South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) sea turtle hospital at uShaka Sea World.

Ann Kunz of uShaka Sea World said the turtle’s body condition other than the carapace fracture is remarkably good, and at this stage they are positive about a good, but slow recovery.

Kunz said the SAAMBR turtle rehabilitation team and veterinarians assessed her on arrival and are working on a treatment plan, to ensure that she can be released again, healthy and strong.

Interestingly, the turtle’s flipper tags established that this was her second rescue, in the same area in four years.

She was named Calypso, and her first rescue was also near Port Shepstone where she was found in a bag in the banana fields with a fish hook in her digestive tract.

After extensive rehabilitation for almost four years, she was released near Cape Vidal in February this year.

She made her way back down to Port Shepstone, but unfortunately has now suffered quite a serious injury to her carapace, most likely a boat strike. This has caused an infection, a fractured shell and also contributed to buoyancy problems.

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