“From there, they will find their own way back home,” said Sarah Male, a senior keeper at Taronga Wildlife Hospital.
The turtles were fitted with satellite trackers to monitor their migratory movements and provide the zoo with information about their habitat use.
“Every time the turtle comes up for air, the tracker takes a photograph of where those turtles are at that point in time,” said Ms Male. “It’s so wonderful to see months later how far they’ve travelled.”
Taronga Zoo’s hospital has been inundated with marine turtles over the past few months. Their release has provided the team with the much-needed space to treat more in the new year.
There are only seven species of marine turtles in the world and six of them call the Australian coastlines their home. The protection of these ocean giants has never been more critical as fishing equipment, pollution, sea-level rise and plastic bag ingestion causes devastating and irreversible damage.
“Turtles are amazing, resilient reptiles,” Ms Male said. “I’ve seen turtles that come in that should be dead but somehow they are surviving.”
The hospital team at Taronga hope that these four turtles, now healed and healthy, will soon be old enough to breed. Their release is vital to the species’ survival.
