Jina makes her way back to south Durban waters

THE South African Association for Marine Biological Research urges beachgoers, swimmers, divers and fisherfolk to keep an eye out for Jina, the female loggerhead sea turtle who was bitten by a tiger shark.

Jina, who was released after she was treated and rehabilitated by SAAMBR’s veterinary team, has been tracked in the south Durban waters and has already been spotted by divers and members of the National Sea Rescue Institute.

She spent 11 months in SAAMBR’s Sea Turtle Hospital at uShaka Sea World due to the partial amputation of both her front flippers after narrowly escaping becoming a tiger shark’s lunch near Umkomaas.

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Fortunately, she was picked up by members of Mokarran Dive Charters and taken to SAAMBR’s Sea Turtle Hospital at uShaka Sea World by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife members.

She lost about 60% of her left front flipper and 30% of her right front flipper and experts were worried about whether she would be able to adapt once back in the ocean.

“It is common to see sea turtles with flipper amputations, but we don’t often encounter double amputations in the wild, however, Jina showed absolute determination from the start of her rehabilitation journey. She also had some lesions on her carapace (her hard upper shell) and had quite a heavy load of amphipods (small shrimps) hitching a ride on her back,” said the medical team.

She was fitted with a satellite transmitter before release to enable staff at SAAMBR to assess how well she adapts to life back in the ocean and she is clearly thriving. Jina was released at Cape Vidal in December 2022.

It did not take her long to head down to Durban which she seems to have adopted as her new home.

She has been spotted by surf-ski paddlers, stand-up paddle boarders as well as divers on many occasions and SAAMBR staff have enjoyed following her daily movements.

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Since she arrived in Durban, she has covered about 1 131km with a daily average swim of about 10.5km. The SAAMBR team feels she should definitely be considered as an honorary member of the Wildtrust Oceans8 team as she covered 10.4km on June 16 and 17.

“Jina reminds us all to have hope, to be resilient, fierce, not give up, to have grit and to enjoy life in the not-too-fast lane. She is such a champ. We thank the free divers and the National Sea Rescue Institute who keep us posted whenever they spot her,” said the SAAMBR team.

SAAMBR can be contacted on 031 328 8222 or via email: info@seaworld.org.za