Tiny, lost and constipated: what a baby turtle told Australian scientists about warming seas
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<p>The arrival of loggerheads in New South Wales shows these ‘sentinels of climate change’ are being forced into unknown territory</p><p>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 ha
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BB the loggerhead turtle is satellite tagged and released off Lord Howe Island in New South Wales, Australia, after 10 months in Taronga wildlife hospital. All photographs and videos: Taronga Conservation Society The arrival of loggerheads in New South Wales shows these ‘sentinels of climate change’ are being forced into unknown territory By Maya Yang in Sydney W hen 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. For conservationists, the rescue was about more than saving the life of one turtle. It was a fresh warning that warming seas are forcing species into new territories. 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. For Taronga’s scientists, those shifts demand a new strategy. Using satellite trackers and new tagging techniques, they are following both rehabilitated and wild turtles’ movements in real time. The goal is to anticipate where turtles will move next and which emerging migration corridors may need protec...
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