The sea turtle that was found yesterday on the beach of Castricum survived the night well. After arriving at Blijdorp Zoo, the female, which is estimated to be approximately 2 years old, was collected in a container of water with a temperature of 15 degrees. This way she could slowly warm up. That went well, today she can go to the next bath.
It concerns a fat-headed sea turtle, which rarely washes up in the Netherlands. Merlijn Hooijsma (24) from Muiderberg saw the unfortunate swimmer on the beach in Castricum yesterday. He immediately raised the alarm. “I picked up the sea turtle and kept it with me. My mother then called the animal ambulance.”
Merlijn and his mother were then able to borrow a container from the nearest beach pavilion, where the sea turtle was placed. With a towel and some seawater, the sea turtle was able to relax for a while. Because it was raining and there were many dogs on the beaches, the two could wait at the kitesurfing club until the animal ambulance arrived.
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‘She was very sweet’
The exotic seemed calm, but tired, to Merlin. “She was very sweet. She kept coming to us from the cage.” His mother adds: “It’s a beautiful animal, but she was very cold. Fortunately, there was a lot of life in it.”
After the animal ambulance arrived, the sea turtle was handed over to the employee. “That poor man had just had a night shift, but he let us know that he would take her to Diergaarde Blijdorp.”
2 year old sea turtle
Mark de Boer from Blijdorp Zoo says that the sea turtle survived the night well. “It won’t be until after three weeks that I really dare to draw a conclusion about how things are going, but so far things are going well.”
The female is estimated to be 2 years old. “She is active and was initially placed in a tank of water at approximately 15 degrees. Today she can go to the next tank at 19 degrees,” says De Boer. “If all goes well, she can go to the large tank tomorrow at 21 degrees. This also contains the two other fat-headed sea turtles.”
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Counter at 6
The Castricum find is the fifth sea turtle recently found in Dutch art. On Saturday, two washed up on the beach of Dishoek (Zeeland), in Vlissingen and on the beach at ‘s-Gravenzande, not far from The Hague. The regional broadcaster Rijnmond reported today that a sixth sea turtle has been seen, again in Vlissingen.
The keepers of the reptiles give the animals a name. “All sea turtles will be named with the B this year,” says De Boer. The two Kemp’s sea turtles ‘listen’ to the names Boeier and BLØF. The turtle found on Friday in ‘s-Gravenzande was named Bodhi, a day later Brick was seen in Dishoek. The swimmer from Vlissingen found today is called Blitzen and the female that Merlijn found in Castricum is called Breeze by the caretakers.
NH also asked readers yesterday to suggest a suitable name for the turtle. You thought the animal should have been called ‘Cas’.
Merlin himself had given her the name Asja, which means ‘full of life’. He and his mother hope that they can visit Rotterdam one day to be reunited with their friend with the shield. “That would be a lot of fun.”