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Green Issues
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 06/02/2008, 9:18 AM
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aborigine
 
Joined on 19/12/2006
Posts 25
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STRANDED TURTLES - URGENT ALERT
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MORE ENDANGERED TURTLES WASH UP ON UK AND IRISH SHORES!
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and Marine Environmental Monitoring (MEM) are again urging British beach walkers to look out for marine turtles after unusually large numbers of the endangered reptiles have washed up on beaches in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland in the last six weeks.
South-westerly winds are forecast to continue and more turtles are expected to wash up on UK and Irish shores in coming weeks.
While stranded turtles may appear to be dead, they may in fact be comatose due to the cold conditions, and can be nursed back to health if rescued and given expert care.
The turtle strandings started in Scotland in late December, when a dead juvenile loggerhead washed up on the shores of Islay. Since then, another 10 turtles have stranded on beaches in Gwynedd and Anglesey in Wales, Argyll in Scotland, Clare, Cork and Wexford in the Republic of Ireland, and in England, including two live loggerhead turtles, one that washed up at Bude, Cornwall on January 26th and another that washed up at Putsborough Beach, North Devon last Saturday, 2nd February.
"We anticipate that the prevailing weather and currents will result in more turtles washing up on our shores and we are therefore again asking beach walkers to be vigilant," said MEM Strandings Co-ordinator Rod Penrose.
"While many of the turtles reported this year have washed up dead, three have been alive. Under no circumstances should live turtles be put back into the sea here in the UK, as this will kill them. If rescued in time these animals can be nursed back to health, indeed, 11 out of 19 live-stranded turtles rescued from UK and Irish beaches in the last decade have been successfully rehabilitated and released back into warmer seas abroad."
In recent years, staff at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay have successfully rehabilitated several live-stranded turtles, and are now caring for both the live juvenile loggerheads that washed up in Devon and Cornwall. They are responding to treatment and if they make full recoveries, will be flown to a dedicated rescue centre in Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, where they will receive further treatment in preparation for eventual release into the warmer Atlantic.
The latest stranding, which was reported last night, was of a dead leatherback that washed up without its head or flippers at Tywyn in Gwynedd, Wales.
All dead or alive stranded turtles should be reported to Marine Environmental Monitoring (MEM) on 01348 875000. MEM organises the rescue and rehabilitation of live stranded turtles; collection and post-mortem of dead animals and maintains a national database of turtle reports.
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Devon Life Foru... » DEVON GREEN cha... » Green Issues » STRANDED TURTLES - URGENT ALERT
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