Durban – The South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr) has asked what is not to love about Sodwana Bay.
It is a world-renowned dive destination within a beautiful marine protected area with magnificent reefs, high biodiversity, warm water and lots of food, especially if you are a green turtle, said Saambr’s Ann Kunz.
Kunz was paving the way for the green turtle Aurora, who was rescued at Scottburgh Point in August 2022 and spent almost four months in Saambr’s sea turtle hospital at uShaka Sea World, where the team worked very hard at getting rid of her serious load of parasites and anaemia.
She said that when new turtle patients arrive, the protocol is always a freshwater bath to rid them of marine-specific parasites. Sea turtles carry many ectoparasites in the wild and it only becomes a problem when they are compromised.
“Aurora not only had a terrible infestation of leeches, but she also carried many egg cases and it took weeks to completely get rid of all her ‘baggage’. These bloodsucking parasites caused Aurora’s red blood cell count to drop, but with ongoing care and thanks to her great appetite, she recovered remarkably quickly,” Kunz said.
She said that Aurora got the all-clear from their clinical vet, Dr Caryl Knox, towards the end of November and was released at Cape Vidal on December 8 with a high-technology satellite tracker so that they could follow her post-rehabilitation movements and spatial ecology use.
“She first explored the areas around Mission Rock and then St Lucia, but moved to Sodwana just in time for New Year’s Eve and has since made this area her new home,” Kunz said.
She said they have filtered her transmission data, and the accurate transmission and movements show a distance covered of 1 654km already.
“The best part for us is that she was spotted by our amazing ocean friend Andy Coetzee while he was free-diving and he managed to even film her. She is looking great and behaving exactly like a healthy sea turtle should,” Kunz said.
“She is making use of this very ‘turtle-friendly’ habitat, and like green turtles so often do, settled in well and stayed in her new home range. Once she matures she will head up to the nesting grounds, which for green turtles are found in Mozambique, Madagascar and along the rest of the East African coast.”
Kunz said that they are hoping to get a transmission from Aurora for at least another year or so and would love to hear from divers in the Sodwana area if they spot her.
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