Two Oceans Aquarium - Turtle Network expansion

education and training of the public on what to do when they find a stranded turtle along our coastline.

The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre team is taking up the call to get the message out there. With the growth of the Turtle Road Trip after 6 years, the turtle team has decided to split the education focus of turtle rescue into four targeted areas of the Western Cape. The main message they will be spreading is for those who come across a stranded turtle, to immediately contact the Turtle Rescue Hotline. From there, a permitted official will jump into action and take the necessary steps to get the turtle to the Two Oceans Aquarium’s Turtle Conservation Centre.

The turtle stranding season for 2023 officially started with the arrival of two loggerhead hatchlings at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre. They were found stranded near Cape Point recently and brought to the Turtle Conservation Centre. The turtle team anticipates this to be the first of over one hundred turtle hatchlings that will find their way into their care this year

The rescue of the first two turtles of the 2023 stranding season marks the importance of the Turtle Rescue Network and the continued

Turtles are a keystone species for the well-being of the marine ecosystem, and all seven species are considered endangered, largely because of human-caused hazards such as plastic pollution and fishing nets. This year, the Turtle Rescue Programme team hopes to expand the number of people who are equipped with the knowledge needed to save the life of a stranded turtle hatchling immensely, by visiting over 34 schools, and bringing them fun, interactive lessons. The aim is to create future turtle rescuers who are inspired to take action should the need arise.

As part of a five-year plan, the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation will roll out 10 informative signs located in strategic turtle stranding points along the coastal network. These signs include information on the different species of turtles that are found along the South African coastline, what to do if you find a turtle stranded on one of the beaches, and who to contact. The sign unveiled in Hermanus will be the fourth sign completed, with the first three in Struisbaai, Arniston and De Hoop respectively.

Endangered Knysna seahorse Spotted in Keurbooms Estuary in Plettenberg Bay

What does it take to spot the world’s most endangered seahorse? Quite a bit of patience apparently, a good eye and when the seahorse in question is sighted carrying eggs, well that’s cause for celebration!

Marine researcher, volunteer coordinator at the Orca Foundation and conservationist, Melissa Nel posted some rare photos of a Knysna seahorse carrying eggs on her Instagram account, with the caption.

“We’re about to have some baby seahorses in the Keurbooms estuary!” Melissa confessed that it was a very special sighting for her, as it took a couple of years to spot her first Knysna seahorse hiding in the eelgrass of the estuary in Plettenberg Bay,” she says.

“The reproductive behaviour of seahorses is notable in that the male carries the fertilised eggs,” - which is what Melissa photographed. After an elaborate courtship, the female uses an ovipositor to place her eggs into the male’s brood pouch, where the eggs are later fertilised. This delicate species is notoriously difficult to spot with a standard length of up to only 12 cm and colouration strongly influenced by the surrounding environment.