Sick green sea turtle rescued from Muriwai Beach

We recently helped a sea turtle that was found washed up on one of Aotearoa’s beaches, in need of help.  

Earlier this month, this green sea turtle was found ill and dehydrated by a member of the public at Muriwai beach who did the right thing and contacted our conservation partners at the Department of Conservation (0800 DOC HOT). DOC was then able to contact our Auckland Zoo veterinary team to help with its rescue.

That same day, our veterinary coordinator Mikaylie collected the turtle and brought it back to our vet hospital, where it remained with us for six nights. During this time our vet team treated it with fluids, slowly warmed it up and assisted with feeding the turtle so it could build back its strength. We also obtained radiographs which thankfully showed no fractures, and took bloods which showed the same signs of chronic illness that we often see in sea turtles.

Our vets started to see improvements in the turtle’s strength and ability to swim for longer periods of time, the perfect time to transition the turtle into the care of our friends at Kelly Tarlton's for rehabilitation. We’re a proud member of ‘Team Turtle’ with Kelly Tarltons, DOC and Air New Zealand, who rescue and rehabilitate injured turtles for release into the wild.

It's still early days and our vet team are working closely with Kelly Tarlton’s staff to monitor the turtles progress as the next steps will be to see the turtle feeding on its own. We’ll keep you posted on the turtles progress!