Our limited edition Turtle Buffs will be ready for collection or delivery on 6 December! If you ordered a Buff, expect an email from us.
Please note: Online sales of the Turtle Buffs are now closed.
You can still contribute to this life-giving work by making a conservation donation online.
Since 2009, the Two Oceans Aquarium has rehabilitated and released more than 260 sea turtles. These turtles, found stranded along the Cape coast by concerned members of the public, arrive at our quarantine facility in all shapes, sizes and conditions. Most of these turtles are very small, vulnerable, weak and ill.
Loggerhead hatchlings drift with the ocean currents. They mistake plastic for food. This one had half a gram of plastic in its body Unfortunately, it did not survive. Photo by Renée Leeuwner
Others have experienced amazing recovery.
And some have embarked on incredible journeys once we’ve released them back into the ocean.
It takes time, effort, specialised medical care, and constant close attention to nurse these turtles back to health and to get them to a condition where they can be released back into the wild. Then, once they are good to return to their natural habitat, we have to transport them – big or small – to a suitable (warmer) place for release.
We started out on a small scale, but demand for specialised veterinarian care for these stranded turtles has steadily increased, and so in turn we have steadily increased our capacity to care for them.
Above: 2015 was a bumper year for our turtle rehab-and-release programme: 162 turtles were released.
We are very fortunate to have veterinarian input and we’ve hired extra staff – and trained additional volunteers – to be able to give these little and not-so-little heroes in a half-shell the care they need, seven days a week, to survive and thrive.
