Posted on: 2017-08-18 09:30:21

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Recent turtle news we found interesting. Have you seen these yet?

There’s still lots of baby turtles, plus turtles in love, escaped turtles returned home, and more.

Recent Box Turtle News

No new box turtle news today.    

Enjoy these repeats, if you missed them before:

• Fiberglass box turtle: A vet in Ohio fixed a boxie’s broken shell with fiberglass a few years ago and released him. Recently she discovered her old patient just hanging out in the woods. How did she know it was him? The fiberglass “bandage” was still attached!
• Good news for the Keeled Box Turtle: This species of Asian Box Turtle is endangered, like so many of its cousins. But the Turtle Conservation Center has had recent success with breeding them. It says 2016 was its best year yet.
• This yard is a box turtle haven!: At least one guy counts it as part of his regular habitat. <3 The author includes pictures of the very colorful male turtle.

Recent U. S. Turtle News

Baby turtles, escaped turtles, and a possible fourth nest from Eliza Ann. Along with removing blocks to nesting, cutting a protection program, and more.

Sea walls are causing too many false crawls … so a judge orders them taken down. For now endangered sea turtles can nest where they want.

She’s the turtle whisperer: She and others at the MOTE Marine Laboratory do everything they can to make sure these babies get a fair shot at life.    

Baby Four-eyed turtles!: These turtles are endangered and quite picky about their breeding setup. So the newest members are always a reason to celebrate. (Tennessee Aquarium)

A rash of escaped tortoises in North Newton, KS: Ok, really just 2. But it’s a reminder that even slow-moving pets need watching!  😲

Has Eliza Ann laid a 4th nest? Trackers can’t be sure, but she was in the right place around the time someone laid a nest. (Anna Maria Island)  😊

Baby loggerheads an unusual sight: Loggerheads don’t usually nest at the North End of Virginia Beach. Some needed help getting to the water.

Less help for Gulf sea turtles: For 40 years the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Galveston laboratory has made sure turtle excluder devices (TEDs) on shrimp nets work like they’re supposed to. That is, they let turtles escape the nets. But this year that program has been cut.  ☹️

He’s making a difference for sea turtles: He is one of the main reasons Ridley sea turtles have made an amazing recovery over the past 40 years. (Texas)

A two-headed baby loggerhead!: After its mini-photo shoot, it was sent on its way to the sea. (Florida)

The pool didn’t even have water! Not to mention it wasn’t finished. But that didn’t stop a turtle from climbing in. (Florida)

Turtle poacher caught red-handed: He threw the turtles off a bridge after being pulled over. 😡

 

 

Recent International Turtle News

Turtle love, turtle CPR, and a turtle on a diet. This week’s international stories cover a little bit of everything!

Ban turtle & dugong hunts? These men want to make that happen. They believe keeping accurate records of the numbers being killed would be a good first step. (Australia)

Raine Island becoming more welcoming to green sea turtles: Authorities are building up sand dunes on one side of the island. This should help increase survival of eggs and hatchlings. Other beach improvements will make the area safer for nesting females. (Australia)

Love at first swim: Staff at the Manchester Sea Life Center decided Ernie the green sea turtle needed something better to cuddle than a big rock. Luckily, Cammy was also looking for love. So she made the long trip from Scotland to meet Ernie. And the rest is history. (Video) More about the pair here.    

Shibukawa Zoo’s escaped tortoise back home: She was gone for 2 weeks, but didn’t get far. A local family found her about 50 meters from the zoo!

Freda the tortoise survives near-drowning: But only because her human just wasn’t going to give up on her. It took an hour of CPR. (UK)

Even sea turtles sometimes need to lose weight: That was true of Noah, who apparently liked to steal the shark’s food! So he had to diet and exercise. In about 4 months he has shed 5 kg. But staff says he still has a “muffin top” & should probably continue his new health plan. 😃

Turtle heroes: A couple of kayakers interrupted their day to untangle a sea turtle from a net (and give it a kiss!). It wasn’t injured so they sent it on its way.