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Endangered loggerhead turtles being found 1,200km from home rescued then released at Coral Bay

By Gian De Poloni
Good shot of close up Loggerhead turtle released into the Indian Ocean following rehabilitation program

One of the loggerhead turtles.

Supplied: Department of Parks and Wildlife

Two young loggerhead turtles have been released back into the ocean at Coral Bay after they were found fighting for their lives on a beach 1,200 kilometres away.

The turtles, dubbed Jack and Sam, were found in poor condition on a Rockingham beach last August after being brought south by the strong Leeuwin current.

One of the turtles was missing a front flipper when it was found.

After undergoing a rehabilitation program with the help of veterinarians from Perth Zoo, the pair were released back into their natural habitat on the Ningaloo coast by members of the Rockingham Palm Beach Rotary Club at the weekend.

Department of Parks and Wildlife spokesman Cameron Craigie said the turtles, which belong to an endangered species, were in good shape. 

"We do have a pretty good success rate with this sort of thing, it just depends on why they come down," he said. 

"Sometimes they've got infections and there's not much we can do for them. 

"We just provide care for them and sometimes they make it and sometimes they don't. 

"If it's just one that has been exhausted or has been caught up in a net or something like that, then generally we can get them back into the wild." 

Mr Craigie said it was not uncommon for the turtles to be swept away by the current. 

"Quite a lot of weaker, younger marine life gets washed down this way, so they would have got brought down to the Perth area and come ashore down here," he said.

"It's pretty common, actually; we probably get anywhere between 10 or 20 different turtles that we have records of doing this each year." 

Both Jack and Sam were microchipped for future identification.

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