Andy the green turtle returns home to the Umzimkhulu River
Teamwork once again made waves in marine conservation as Andy, a 110kg green turtle, was recently released back into the river.
After weeks of care and observation, the large green turtle named Andy, rescued from the uMzimkhulu River last month finally was returned home – swimming off strongly and free once again.
Turtle rehabilitation specialists from the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr), Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and volunteers from NSRI Port Edward joined forces to make the successful ‘tag and release’ possible.
Last month, members of the KZN Stranding Network were alerted that a large sea turtle had become trapped in a cordoned-off section of the uMzimkhulu River. Construction work on the river mouth – part of ongoing repairs to the uMzimkhulu Bridge – had inadvertently enclosed two mature green sea turtles.
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According to Ann Kunz of Saambr, the female turtle was safely released shortly after the discovery, while the male – weighing almost 110kg – was transported to uShaka Sea World for observation, DNA sampling, and tagging before release.
Andy was named after Andy Coetzee, who assisted in the planning and rescue of both animals from the cordoned-off estuary.
“We very rarely get the opportunity to track male sea turtles, as they never come ashore like females do when nesting. This gives us an incredible chance to learn more about the oceanic movements of a male green sea turtle,” explained Kunz.
“Andy was an easy patient as he was in excellent condition, fed well, and exhibited normal behaviours,” said Turtle Rehabilitation Specialist, Timothy Smith.
Before being released back into the wild, Andy was fitted with four different tags: a flipper tag (serving as a unique external identifier), an acoustic tag (to track his movements along the southern African coast), a PIT tag (implanted under the skin for long-term identification), and a satellite tag for long-distance tracking.
Santosh Bachoo, Ecologist of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said this opportunity to collect data from this malgreen turtle highlights the importance to protect their habitats such as, estuaries and rivers.
The satellite tag, kindly donated by the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, is expected to transmit information about Andy’s location and movements for up to two years, depending on battery life and tag retention.
The Saambr team is currently seeking sponsorship for a satellite tag for another turtle ready for release. Each tag costs around R35 000.
Anyone interested in helping can contact Ann Kunz on 083 3924147.
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