Aquarium frees 183kg legendary turtle Yoshi

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Cape Town - After months of preparation and waiting for the ideal weather conditions, the Two Oceans Aquarium has finally released Yoshi, its large resident loggerhead turtle, off the coast of Cape Town. Yoshi, weighing 183kg and measuring 107cm long and 89cm across, was taken by boat to her release point - 27 nautical miles south-west of Hout Bay. “Given that female sea turtles always return to their natal beaches (where they hatched) to lay their eggs, it is appropriate that Yoshi is released off Cape Town so that she has the opportunity to follow her natural instinct towards her home range, either up the east coast or the west coast of Africa,” said Two Oceans Aquarium curator Maryke Musson. On Friday, Yoshi was sedated and removed from the I&J Ocean Exhibit. She was then fitted with a satellite tag so her movements can be tracked and monitored over the next few years. The release of Yoshi was a monumental event in the lives of our passionate and dedicated turtle rehab team, the aquarium said. They said that that there were many tears on the boats as Yoshi made her first splash in 20 years into the wild SA waters.

“Yoshi is an absolute legend, and has been part of our turtle conservation and rehabilitation story for many years. She arrived at the Aquarium broken and lost, and it is amazing to know that we contributed to giving her that one in a thousand chance of reaching reproductive age, ” says Two Oceans Aquarium Curator, Maryke Musson.

The aquarium also said they were extremely pleased to be releasing back into the wild 27 loggerhead hatchlings that have been recovering in our rehab-and-release facility for various lengths of time since April this year.

“The rehabilitation of these wonderful little loggerhead ambassadors was made possible by 26 incredibly generous members of the public and organisations who sponsored their specialist care through our Adopt a Turtle programme,” their statement said.

“Thank you to each and everyone one of you who made this huge difference.”

The aquarium got the first pingback from the satellite tag attached to Yoshi, at 04:30am on Monday morning, and seeing that she was tracked surface directly south of Cape Point. She has made great progress moving eastward from the release location.

“I cannot wait to see where Yoshi goes,” Musson said.

“We will follow her every move as long as we get satellite transmission (hopefully for a few years), and yes, the NSRI is on standby should she need any assistance,” she added.

Full story here.