Le Figaro Nantes
She is weakened but is in
"good health"
.
On Monday, teams from the Océarium du Croisic (Loire-Atlantique) recovered a young loggerhead turtle from Castouillet beach after receiving an alert from walkers.
“She had already been seen on Sunday at the edge of the water.
She ran aground a few meters further”
, recalls Sébastien Voilet, the aquarium manager within the establishment which, since 1992, has presented the fauna and flora of the oceans to the public.
After some care on the beach (cleaning the eyes and hydrating its shell), the animal was transferred to the aquarium.
Since then, she has been resting there:
“She is warming up slowly.
It is placed in a small adapted container in a calm environment.
The animal measures
"about thirty centimeters"
, according to the specialist.
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"Neither rare nor frequent"
The sea turtle will not stay long in Loire-Atlantique.
On Thursday, she will take over the management of the Center for the Study and Care of Sea Turtles in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime).
“It is a specialized institute which is used to this kind of situation.
If the turtle is doing well, it is possible that it will be reintroduced into its natural environment in the future
,” explains Sébastien Voilet.
The animal is a loggerhead turtle, an endangered species, which lives in the oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian) but is also found in the Mediterranean.
This kind of stranding for this species is
“neither rare nor frequent”
underlines the aquariologist: “
It can happen after the winter period or bad weather.
This especially concerns juvenile turtles.”
The one taken care of by his teams would be around three years old.
Loggerhead turtles can live to be over sixty years old in the wild:
“We observe them every year.
In summer, it is present off the Atlantic coast and then leaves again in winter.
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