Loggerhead turtle rescued from Scottish island
Pictured: A loggerhead turtle, similar to the one discovered on the Scottish beach.
A loggerhead turtle has been rescued after it was found washed up on the Isle of Iona in Scotland on Thursday (27 January).
The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) posted on its Facebook page that it had rescued the turtle after a member of the public reported the stranded creature.
Under instruction from the BDMLR, the resident who reported the turtle rushed it to Mull on a ferry, where the organisation's Marine Mammal Medics, collected it and took it to Mull Aquarium, where it stayed overnight.
The next day the turtle was transported by ferry to Oban to the Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre, where it is now staying for rehabilitation.
In the post, the BDMLR explained: “Tropical turtles usually wash up in the UK most years and are usually smaller, weaker animals that have possibly been pushed off course into the Gulf Stream and end up out of their normal habitat.
“As turtles are cold-blooded, they get severely hypothermic, malnourished and dehydrated as their body shuts down due to the cold water. Many wash up dead, but the ones found alive and reported to us go for rehab in aquaria that are familiar with their care.
“If they survive (that’s a big ‘if’, as often they are already too far gone) then they are returned to the wild in places such as the Canary Islands.
“This turtle will have to have its body temperature increased very gradually to avoid thermal shock, so the water temperature will be adjusted incrementally.”
The organisation thanked everyone involved in the rescue process, and stated that it had it's 'fingers crossed' for the turtle's survival.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
