Two Turtles Released at Poor Knights Islands

18
Mar

An endangered hawksbill turtle and a badly hurt green turtle that were both washed up on beaches in storms, have been fixed up by Kelly Tarlton's and released today at the Poor Knights Islands.

The hawksbill turtle is named Hawksby, and has been eating and swimming happily at the aquarium in Kelly Tarlton’s regaining the correct body weight before the return to the wild at the Poor Knights this morning.

The green turtle, Dizzy, had a very badly damaged fin which required amputation. A full recovery and healthy appetite means that Dizzy will be released with Hawksby later on this morning at the Islands. And no, Dizzy does not swim in a circle, the other fin compensates, and the power stroke is different and ensures a nice straight line.

This is not the first time that Kelly Tarlton’s have successfully rehabilitated and released a turtle. Tarly was released on 29 January 2009, and is currently off the coast of Chile, Check out her travels via satellite tagging here, and her current position here

Chelonia mydas The Green Turtle

Carapace with four pairs of costal shields, an intergular shield and a series of inframarginal plastral shields. Head covered with symmetrical shields; one pair of prefrontals. Dorsal shields juxtaposed. Jaws not hooked. Tail short.

Colour: Adult olive or brown, the shields with more or less distinct brown rays; yellow beneath.

Size: The carapace attains a length of 1,100 mm.

Distribution: The Green Turtle is worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas, and is an occasional visitor to New Zealand.

Note: The Green Turtle derives its name from the colour of its fat. It is the animal which provides the famous Turtle Soup of gourmets — the fat imparts its green colouring to the soup.

Eretmochelys imbricataThe Hawksbill Turtle

In the young the carapace is three-ridged and the dorsal shields are strongly imbricate; in the adult the ridges disappear and the scutes or shields may remain imbricate or become juxtaposed. There are twenty-five marginals, including the nuchal, strongly serrated posteriorly. Snout compressed in adults, jaws hooked (hence the popular name!. edges not or but feebly denticulated. Head with two pairs of prefrontal shields.

Colour: Young brown above, blackish below. Carapace of adult marbled yellowish and brown, plastron yellow; shields or scales of the head and limbs dark brown, margined with yellow.

Size: An adult carapace may attain a length of 900mm.

Distribution: Widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical seas. In New Zealand the species is almost restricted to the north. Young occasionally strand along Ninety-Mile-Beach.

Note: The Hawksbill Turtle is the species that provides the ‘Tortoise shell’ of commerce — ‘Turtle shell’ of commerce is derived from the other species. In the past this species was decimated for the sake of its shell, but in modern times synthetic materials have given it a respite. The beautiful translucent shields are used for ornamental purposes and for the manufacture of jewelery. The flesh is not palatable.

For more information

Key to Marine Turtles

Kelly Tarlton’s