NH MediaThe fathead sea turtle was discovered by hikers this morning
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NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 15:24
Another fathead sea turtle was found on the Dutch coast this morning. This time it happened on the beach near Castricum. Just like the previously found animals, the turtle was taken in by Diergaarde Blijdorp.
The rare sea creature was found by hikers. “This tropical turtle does not belong here,” says curator of cold-blooded animals Mark de Boer of Blijdorp Zoo. “This turtle can never survive in the North Sea. It is a tropical sea animal that thrives at twenty degrees. We hope he survives because he is probably quite hypothermic,” De Boer says. NH.
The turtle is slowly warmed up in a special room. “We are taking it very slowly. If it survives, the animal will be released to the Azores in the spring.”
Five turtles
It is the fifth time in three months that a sea turtle has been found on the Dutch coast. Just yesterday, two other turtles washed ashore. One was completely covered in grown mussels. This animal was found near Vlissingen. The other fat-headed turtle was discovered almost at the same time near ‘s-Gravenzande.
According to De Boer, the sea turtle discovered this morning is the sixteenth ever in our country. He doesn’t know how more have been discovered recently. “No idea. I think because of the sea current through the Channel. When it storms, they wash up on the beach.”
He advises people who find a sea turtle to call the animal ambulance or Blijdorp. That is the only place in the Netherlands where sea turtles are cared for.
2023-12-24 14:24:14
#Tropical #turtle #beach
