Generally speaking, turtles like Moira are not supposed to be found in B.C.
The female loggerhead sea turtle currently recovering at Vancouver Aquarium is only the second one anyone at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society can remember encountering in B.C. waters.
Loggerhead turtles typically prefer subtropical and temperate ocean climates, with nine distinct populations present across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea.
The North Pacific segment of the population nests only in Japan, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, so wherever Moira is from, she’s likely far from home.
The rescue society picked up the animal on Feb. 4 in Pedder Bay, near Sooke. She was “cold-stunned” and hypothermic, with a core body temperature of only 8.4 C, when she was admitted to the VAMMR facility at the aquarium.
“She is currently receiving fluid therapy, antibiotics, and TLC from vet staff,” the rescue society said in a statement Tuesday.
“The team is slowly increasing her temperature by a degree or two per day, careful not to increase too quickly.”
Moira – so named by the society’s staff and volunteers – weighs 38 kilograms (about 84 pounds), and staff estimate she’s 15 to 20 years old.
How and why Moira ended up on the coast of Vancouver Island is a bit of a mystery, but she’s now at the only facility in Western Canada that can provide her with the care she requires, according to the VAMMR.
The rescue society credited local marine biologist Dr. Anna Hall as the first person to respond to rescue Moira, saying she played a “vital role in making the rescue take place.” It also noted that the rescue would not have been possible without permission from Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
