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With turtle stranding season approaching, conservationists gathered at the Great White House in Kleinbaai to brief local residents on what to expect — and what to do — if they encounter a stranded sea turtle along the Overberg coastline.
The presentation was led by Talitha Noble-Trull, Conservation Manager at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, alongside rehabilitation team members Siyolise Bezu and Sangesakhe Speelman.
Understanding the season
“End Feb is turtle stranding season,” Noble-Trull explained, outlining the annual cycle that brings vulnerable juvenile turtles to Western Cape shores.
Between October and December, female turtles come ashore in KwaZulu-Natal to nest, laying between 80 and 100 eggs at a time. After covering the nest, the female “moves around on the soil for a while as a decoy” before returning to the sea. The eggs incubate for six to eight weeks on the beaches of KZN, where conservationists have built up “a good dataset of information for the last few years — good starting points,” she said.
When the hatchlings emerge, they scramble to the ocean and enter the Agulhas Current system. “They’re in the currents for five days in the Agulhas currents,” Noble-Trull noted, beginning a journey that is both extraordinary and perilous.
The first decade of a turtle’s life is meant to be spent almost entirely at sea. “First 10 years is supposed to be in the ocean,” she said. Yet the odds are stark: only “1 in 1000 actually make it to adulthood.”
Why turtles strand in the Overberg
Between March and July, the Western Cape experiences its stranding season. During this time, young turtles that have drifted far south in the currents become cold-stunned in winter waters and wash ashore along beaches from De Hoop to Kleinbaai.
“A lot of juveniles hang out around De Hoop,” Noble-Trull added, referencing the productive marine ecosystem around De Hoop Nature Reserve.
After weeks or months floating at sea, many arrive exhausted, dehydrated and often entangled in debris. “Plastic and nets are the two biggest threats that turtles face,” the team emphasised.
Because they spend extended periods drifting, stranded turtles often have marine growth on their shells and are found alongside kelp and other rubbish. They also ingest plastic — mistaking fragments for food — compounding their already fragile state.
One recent patient, Sage, “was tangled in nets found at De Hoop,” the team shared. Another had consumed so much plastic that the Foundation commissioned an artist to do a sculpture of them from all the plastic they consumed.
What to do — and what not to do
A key message of the evening was clear: do not put a stranded turtle back in the water.
Cold-stunned turtles may appear lifeless but are often still alive. “Even if dead then — turtles also play dead,” the team cautioned.
Instead:
- Place the turtle on a soft surface.
- Keep it in shade.
- Handle it gently.
- Provide support on the underside of the body — especially as juveniles can weigh between 15 and 20 kilograms.
- Avoid lifting from the sides, as they may be weak there.
- If the turtle is large, use more people to help support its body.
- Do not remove hooks, fishing line or nets.
Then contact the rescue hotline or local conservation authorities for guidance. Having photographs as well as the co-ordinates also assists the rescuers.
Siyolise Bezu, who works in the rehabilitation centre, reinforced the importance of proper handling: stranded turtles are often severely compromised and require specialist veterinary assessment.
Inside the rehabilitation centre
The rescue effort is led by the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s expanded rehabilitation programme in Cape Town.
“Nine turtles [are] currently in rescue care at the moment,” Bezu said, noting that each turtle moves through carefully monitored stages of recovery.
Rehabilitation can take “anything from a month to years,” depending on the severity of injury, dehydration, plastic ingestion or entanglement trauma.
Sea Turtle Aquarist Sangesakhe Speelman explained that one of the foundation’s main goals is to return turtles to the wild. “One of our main goals is to release them to the wild — have released over 1300 baby turtles and over 100 adults,” she said.
Before release, turtles are tagged and monitored. “When release tag them — monitor,” she explained. Tracking provides vital scientific data and confirms whether rehabilitated turtles successfully reintegrate into their natural migration patterns.
The results can be extraordinary. One of the first turtles rehabilitated and tagged by the foundation travelled all the way to the northern coast of Australia, where researchers believe she nested.
Ultimately, the hope is that rehabilitated females “return to their nesting beach,” continuing the cycle that began on the warm shores of KwaZulu-Natal.
Stranding numbers vary dramatically
Stranding numbers fluctuate significantly from year to year.
“Numbers found varies,” Speelman said. “Last year 50. The year before 650.”
Over a 10-year period, the average has been 37 per year, according to Tracey Whitehouse.
The variability reflects changing ocean temperatures, current patterns and storm events — factors that can dramatically influence how many hatchlings are swept off course.
A shared responsibility
As Kleinbaai prepares for another stranding season, the message from the rescue team is both sobering and hopeful.
The early years of a sea turtle’s life are filled with risk — from plastic pollution and discarded fishing gear to temperature shifts and predation. Yet with community awareness and rapid response, many stranded juveniles can recover and rejoin the ocean currents.
From De Hoop’s rugged shoreline to Kleinbaai’s beaches, residents now know what to look for — and how to act.
Because for a turtle washed ashore in winter, the difference between life and death may rest in the hands of the first person who finds it.
Overberg residents can call the rescue hotline at 083 300 1663. Contact the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation to see how else you can support their turtle rescue programme.
