from HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to world@lemmy.world on 05 Mar 06:48
https://sh.itjust.works/post/56304844
When Bulwal Bilima (BB for short) first arrived at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, she, or possibly he, was lethargic, badly constipated and dehydrated. Named “strong turtle” in the Aboriginal Dhurga language of the Yuin people on whose land it was found, the tiny 110g loggerhead hatchling, no bigger than a bar of soap, had a fight on its hands.
The baby turtle was found stranded in New South Wales’s Booderee national park last April, much further south than the usual hatching grounds. After days of feeding on squid, sardines and marine vitamins, BB, whose sex cannot be determined until it is fully mature, revived.
Through winter, BB remained in heated rehabilitation pools to thermoregulate while offshore waters remained too cold. Then last month, it was finally fitted with a satellite tracker and released from Lord Howe Island, about 700km north-east of Sydney.
The East Australian Current is strengthening and pushing warmer waters further south. Marine species once largely confined to Queensland, including endangered loggerhead turtles, are now turning up much further south in New South Wales – in places they have rarely been recorded before.
#world
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