8 April 2008

As another marine turtle is found dead near Newquay and a second on the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Marine Strandings Network, working in partnership with British Divers Marine Life Rescue, are asking the public to look out for these well-travelled visitors. They want to ensure that any survivors get the emergency treatment they need and learn more about the biology of turtles from those that do not survive.

"2008 has been a busy year for finding stranded turtles, some of which have travelled thousands of miles from the American coast to find themselves in southwest waters," says Jan Loveridge, CWT Strandings Network Coordinator. "This latest turtle, a loggerhead, brings the number found in Cornwall to six. They stranded as far apart as Bude, St Agnes and the Isles of Scilly and a seventh was found in north Devon. They ranged in size from over a metre across to the size of a dinner plate and one, the turtle from St Agnes, had one front flipper missing. It was obviously an old wound as it had healed, but it must have badly compromised her ability to swim and, sadly, she was already dead when found."

Between them, the CWT Marine Strandings Network and BDMLR responded to every call they received about the stranded reptiles. Now the organisations are asking for the public's help to try and increase the chances of survival of any more turtles that wash up.

"We know that turtles can appear to be dead when in fact they have simply gone into a catatonic state due to our cold waters", says Dave Jarvis, BDMLR's Coordinator for Cornwall, "but they need specialist care to bring them safely out of this state. We have already succeeded in rescuing four of the turtles, two of which have survived and are doing really well thanks to the care and expertise of the team at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay, who've done a fantastic job. You can even see 'James', the largest of the group, swimming around happily in the large tank. We hope that she - yes it is a female, despite the name - will continue to recover well and eventually be flown out and released in warmer seas, which really makes it all worthwhile."

"It is possible to revive comatose turtles if it's done correctly", continued Dave, "but it's vital that anyone finding a turtle doesn't return it to the sea or put it in warm water; it will simply die. Even if you see no signs of life, please ring the Marine Strandings Network Hotline right away and they will send out one of their volunteers and alert us if there is any possibility that a turtle is still alive. Turtles caught in ropes should also be reported quickly, or they may drown. If you need to pick the turtle up, for health reasons, always wear rubber gloves and do be aware that if a turtle is alive, it may bite and this can be serious."

"Of the seven species of marine turtle, three have been positively identified in Cornish waters: the leatherback, loggerhead and Kemp's Ridley turtles", added Joana Doyle, Marine Conservation Officer for CWT. "They are all endangered species and all are protected by national and international laws. They're at risk from collisions with fast boats, pollution, loss of nesting sites due to development and entanglement in fishing gear. Leatherback turtles follow the gulf stream pursuing jellyfish, on which they feed. However, they often mistake plastic bags for their prey and these can block their digestive tract which ultimately, leads them to starve."

"Although, sadly, we've had to examine and record so many dead turtles this year", Joana continued, "at least we can learn a lot from the turtles that died. Two have been sent for post-mortem examination and our volunteers do, of course measure, photograph and record them all. We also share our data with other organisations that are studying turtles' movements worldwide and it's all helping to build up a picture of the various species' lives, the threats they face and the astonishing journeys they make across the oceans - an amazing feat if you're only 15cm long!"

The public are urged to call the CWT Strandings Network Hotline immediately on 0845 201 2626 if they find an apparently dead turtle, and can learn more about the Network's efforts in examining all species of stranded marine animals on www.cwtstrandings.org. Other live marine animals in difficulty should be reported immediately to BDMLR on 01825 765546.