Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation
Donation protected
The Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre is a Conservation, Education and Research facility mostly self funded through its tourism activities.
Our Turtle Rescue Program enables us to rescue stranded ocean going turtles, restore them to health and release them back into the warmer waters in the North of the State. We do this with the approval and support of the the Dept. of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and the Perth Zoo who provide veterinary health assessment.
Mostly we rescue juvenile Loggerhead Turtles that hatched on beaches off the North West Shelf and have been carried south by the Leeuwin Current which runs down the West coast of Australia and into the Great Australian Bight. These animals have been knocked out of the warmer Leeuwin current into colder waters and their systems close down and they die from starvation, end up in the food chain or are washed up on southern beaches where they are sometimes found and brought to the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre.
As it is recognised that only 1 in 1000 juveniles make it to adulthood anything we can do to help preserve these animals is significant. We also rescue other turtle species that are injured or become stranded in our area and these are mostly more mature animals.
A previous Loggerhead Turtle we rescued, (Squirt)
was released off Exmouth with an radio transmitter in 2015 and travelled over 4000 km before the transmission stopped after 84 days. Squirts story gave us new information about the journey that these turtles take and a better understanding of the species. We are hopeful that this year 20 of the 50 juvenile Loggerheads in care across the State will be able to be fitted with transmitters, most likely to be released in December 2017, and that they will add to our knowledge base.
We would appreciate any support that people may be able to give to this worthwhile conservation project. It will enable us to expand our care facilities, cover the costs of additional veterinary support, provide food for animals in care, further develop and promote our Turtle Rescue Program to other sites and support our volunteer based research activities.
We would welcome any enquires about site visits or the other activities undertaken by the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre.
Our Turtle Rescue Program enables us to rescue stranded ocean going turtles, restore them to health and release them back into the warmer waters in the North of the State. We do this with the approval and support of the the Dept. of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and the Perth Zoo who provide veterinary health assessment.
Mostly we rescue juvenile Loggerhead Turtles that hatched on beaches off the North West Shelf and have been carried south by the Leeuwin Current which runs down the West coast of Australia and into the Great Australian Bight. These animals have been knocked out of the warmer Leeuwin current into colder waters and their systems close down and they die from starvation, end up in the food chain or are washed up on southern beaches where they are sometimes found and brought to the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre.
As it is recognised that only 1 in 1000 juveniles make it to adulthood anything we can do to help preserve these animals is significant. We also rescue other turtle species that are injured or become stranded in our area and these are mostly more mature animals.
A previous Loggerhead Turtle we rescued, (Squirt)
was released off Exmouth with an radio transmitter in 2015 and travelled over 4000 km before the transmission stopped after 84 days. Squirts story gave us new information about the journey that these turtles take and a better understanding of the species. We are hopeful that this year 20 of the 50 juvenile Loggerheads in care across the State will be able to be fitted with transmitters, most likely to be released in December 2017, and that they will add to our knowledge base.
We would appreciate any support that people may be able to give to this worthwhile conservation project. It will enable us to expand our care facilities, cover the costs of additional veterinary support, provide food for animals in care, further develop and promote our Turtle Rescue Program to other sites and support our volunteer based research activities.
We would welcome any enquires about site visits or the other activities undertaken by the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre.
Organizer
Tiffany Goodall
Organizer
South Bunbury WA
