Tropical loggerhead turtle rescued after washing up on Scottish island

The turtle was lucky to live as few of them survive in cold climates, a charity said

The loggerhead turtle that was found washed-up on a beach in western Scotland ( Chris Sharples/BDMLR)

A loggerhead sea turtle that washed up on a beach in Scotland has been rescued and put into rehabilitation.

The young tropical turtle was found by a member of the public on the Isle of Iona in western Scotland on Thursday.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was called to collect up the turtle. The charity took it to the neighbouring Isle of Mull, where a marine medic checked over it before placing it in an aquarium.

The turtle was taken by ferry to Oban, on the Scottish mainland, and then to Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre in Balloch, near Glasgow, on Friday.

Loggerhead turtles, which live in tropical or sub-tropical waters, can get lost in the warm Gulf Stream – an ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico.

Few of these turtles survive when they reach the coast of the UK, according to BDMLR.

The charity said: “If they survive – that’s a big ‘if’, as often they are already too far gone – then they are returned to the wild in places such as the Canary Islands.

“This turtle will have to have its body temperature increased very gradually to avoid thermal shock, so the water temperature will be adjusted incrementally.”

Loggerheads, as cold-blooded reptiles, need to live in warm waters. Cold climates can leave them “hypothermic, malnourished and dehydrated – and their body shuts down,” BDMLR said.

The ones that get rescued are taken to aquariums where there are facilities to treat them, before they are released back into the wild in places such as the Canary Islands, the charity added.

A number of loggerhead turtles have crossed the Atlantic before washing-up on the British Isles, particularly Ireland.

The loggerhead turtle – the largest of all hard-shelled turtle species – is considered to be vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

They have a long lifespan – of between about 40 to 70 years – but they have a low reproductive rate.

Pollution, fishing nets, artificial lighting, destruction of beaches, climate change, and the consumption of the turtles and their eggs have all been cited as reasons for the loss of the turtles and their hatchlings.