The turtle, which will probably be called Texel, lies quietly in Ecomare on Texel. The animal must regain its strength before it is transported to Diergaarde Blijdorp in Rotterdam early tomorrow morning. The employees of the seal sanctuary were surprised when they received a call that a sea turtle had washed up on the beach at post 29, just south of the Texel lighthouse.
Wrapped in towels, the young reptile must regain its strength. Ecomare zookeeper Jarco Havermans is very enthusiastic about the find. “I’ve never seen a live sea turtle, let alone held one in my hands.”
The finders, a married couple, have been coming to Texel for 38 years. “They had already found all kinds of things during this period, but never a sea turtle,” says Havermans. “They didn’t realize how special this was at first. The animal was already on the beach when they arrived.”
It concerns a hypothermic young fat-headed turtle. Another name for the loggerhead turtle is loggerhead turtle. It is a large type of sea turtle, but the individual found is still young and therefore quite small. It weighs 1.3 kilos and its shell is 20 cm long.
“But then I can propose that we call this animal Texel.”
The animal does not yet have a name. Normally all seals found are given a name. But this is not yet known for a turtle. “I don’t know if they give all the animals a name in Blijdorp,” says Havermans. “But then I can propose that we call this animal Texel.” It is a species that can survive in colder water, but the North Sea is not part of its normal distribution area. The Mediterranean Sea and the coast off Morocco are the closest places where this species occurs. However, a number of turtles have already been found on Dutch beaches this winter and taken into care in Blijdorp.
“The last discovery was in 2008,” says Havermans. “It happens more often in the Netherlands. I think this is it seventh copy from this year. Two of these were rare Kemp’s sea turtles that live near the Gulf of Mexico.”
The animal is wonderfully pampered in Ecomare. It will be transported early Thursday morning. It is transported in a box that normally houses seals. “Not in water, but in a damp towel,” says Havermans. Blijdorp already has a number of animals in the shelter. The well-known zoo has the necessary permits, the expertise and the facilities to care for sea turtles.
Warming up must be done very carefully and wait until he has arrived in Blijdorp. “It is a cold-blooded animal. That is very different from warm-blooded animals that are hypothermic. So we keep it hypothermic. In Blijdorp they can bring the animal back up to temperature properly and it can eventually go back into the water. “
According to the zookeeper, the blood can be used to determine where the animals come from. Similar people who are already in Blijdorp came from the area around Tunisia, Cape Verde Islands and East Florida. “So they weren’t friends of each other,” Havermans says with a smile.
Glucose
To support the animal, Ecomare animal caretakers administered subcutaneous fluid with glucose. “He was quite slow,” says Havermans. “We also do that with hedgehogs when they are hypothermic.” Glucose can be quickly absorbed into the body. “The turtle responded to that. Then it started to show some life again. We really hope that this animal will make it.”