Cape Town - Eighty loggerhead turtle hatchlings that washed up during the black southeaster this week have been rescued and taken in for intensive care.
Also rescued were 45 African penguin eggs that would have been washed away in flooded nests, and 11 African penguin chicks, now also in the care of clinical veterinarians.
The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation said that with the gale-force winds and heavy rains, its Turtle Conservation Centre had been inundated with stranded hatchlings.
“We’ve just been notified by our Turtle Rescue Network that 80 loggerhead turtles have been rescued after washing up in the recent storms and are on their way to the Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre for immediate care,” the aquarium said.
The Turtle Conservation Centre previously said that stranding season, when hatchlings and adult turtles strand on beaches along the Western Cape coastline between February and July, was already one of their busiest times of the year.
From October to December, turtles such as loggerheads and leatherbacks lay their eggs along the KwaZulu-Natal coast, when thousands of just-born turtles then swim out into the Agulhas Current, a warm, swift current that runs around the eastern coast of South Africa.
However, the hatchlings were often spat into the colder waters close to the Benguela Current as the current slowed and turned.
These hatchlings experience shock, cold, and dehydration.
The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) meanwhile said the City of Cape Town, CapeNature, SANParks and Robben Island rangers increased their surveillance and monitoring to ensure African penguin nests at risk were routinely checked.
This comes as staff will monitor the colonies during heavy rains to ensure nests do not flood.
Dr David Roberts, clinical veterinarian at Sanccop, said: “At Sanccob Cape Town we had more seabirds admitted on Sunday and Monday than normal. Forty-five African penguin eggs that would have been washed away in flooded nests, and 11 African penguin chicks.”
Roberts said they also admitted two endangered Cape gannets that were blown off course and found on a local beach.
“In addition, we admitted two Reed cormorants and nine Hartlaub’s gulls due to the bad weather experienced.”
The Two Oceans Aquarium has appealed for clean, empty ice cream containers to be dropped off at the front desk.
“Ice cream containers are used to isolate the hatchlings during their initial period of intensive care, and are also the perfect containers to be used for transport of the hatchlings after they are rescued.”
Residents and visitors have also been advised to be on the lookout for stranded hatchlings.
“If you visit the coast in the Western Cape, please be on the lookout for stranded hatchlings and contact us immediately to facilitate a rescue.”
Contact +27 (0)21 418 3823.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za
Cape Argus