Why did a sick turtle wash-up on a beach?
BBCA rare loggerhead turtle has spent its first night at a sea life centre in Dorset after being rescued from a beach in Jersey.
The dog walker who found it washed up on 19 January initially thought it was dead but called for help after seeing it move.
Named Crush by its rescuers, the turtle has had an unusual few weeks, including a fortnight's stay in a vet's family home and a "celebrity trip" on an aircraft to Southampton.
The hope is for Crush to eventually be released back into warmer seas, but not before the months-long process of restoring her core temperature and strength.
What's wrong with Crush?
Peter Hawarth, clinical director at New Era Veterinary Hospital in Jersey, explained Crush was "cold-stunned" - a hypothermia-like condition that causes the turtle's body to shut down - and at the time she was found, her core temperature was just 10C (50F).
He said: "We had to warm the turtle up very, very slowly... two to three degrees per day, so to start with we had to do everything outside.
"When they are cold-stunned they get a lot of toxins build up in the tissue and, if you warm them up too suddenly, all those toxins flood into the rest of the organs and cause shutdown."
He said once Crush's body temperature reached 22C "she could eat, drink, poo and do everything a turtle would do".
Why did crush travel to Dorset?
Although the New Era team had rescued a cold-stunned turtle before, it had been 10 years ago, so they received expert advice from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, Sea Life and even Rotterdam Zoo.
Jade Cranfield, senior aquarist at Weymouth Sea Life in Dorset, said the Jersey animal hospital "did a really great job".
She said: "The first thing we do [with cold-stunned turtles] is put them in a container with a foam mattress that's got the water level coming up, just enough so it's damp, to warm her up a little bit.
"Blood tests are done and X-rays are done to find out what our next steps are going to be because they're often dehydrated as well."
Sure enough, Crush's core temperature started to rise but after a week at the animal hospital, she needed a bigger tank.
Hawarth said: "We had to put something together in a room at my house so she has been lodging with us for two weeks.
"I was having to move 500l (110 gallons) of saltwater every two or three days.
"I was boiling seawater, tipping it in to get it to the right temperature, so she could go back into that water."
What will happen to Crush?
At Weymouth's Sea Life Centre, seawater is pumped directly into tanks and heated to the correct temperature.
Crush spent her first night in a 2,000-litre (440-gallon) quarantine tank and has eaten some sprats.
She will eventually move to a 17,000-litre (3,740-gallon) tank with another cold-stunned turtle.
Cranfield said: "There's a lot that have been washed up recently around the UK so we are hoping to get them all up to health so we can release them in a warmer climate, where they should be, at the end of spring."
Why are turtles washing up here?
Loggerhead turtles can be found in the subtropical waters off north Africa and it is believed Crush was swept north by storms and currents.
Others have been found in Sussex, Suffolk and as far north as Tyree in Scotland.
The species is classed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. There are an estimated 2,000 breeding females worldwide and out of every 1,000 hatchlings, on average, only one makes it to adulthood.
It is not known if Crush is female but rescuers have called her "she" because, like other females, she has a larger tail.
Hawarth described the plane journey to Southampton as "a little bit stressful" with Crush "rattling the box the entire way over" but said carrier Logan Air had provided them with a "celebrity trip".
After they arrived in Weymouth, he said: "I'm going to miss her. She has a personality, she has a temper.
"My daughter fell in love with her immediately. It's going to be sad.
"Putting her into that bigger tank was a wonderful experience.
"I just can't wait to see her get released in the coming months."
