Turtles will be home for Christmas

Santa had an early Christmas gift for two green turtles from Australia's Reef HQ Aquarium Turtle Hospital this morning (15 December, 2014), as they were successfully returned to the wild at Alma Bay, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia in time for Christmas.

The two turtles, named Buffy and Tuesday, were found injured in the waters surrounding Magnetic Island – 20 minutes off the coast of Townsville, North Queensland – earlier this year and, after some rehabilitation, are now healthy enough to return to their feeding grounds.

Approximately 300 people formed a guard of honour leading Buffy and Tuesday into the ocean and while Tuesday was cautiously slow to make her way down the sand an into the water, speedster Buffy was clearly eager to get home, quickly taking off as soon as she smelled the salt water.

Reef HQ Aquarist, Krystal Huff said today's release provided a great opportunity for the community to not only see turtles in the wild, but to get a first-hand glimpse at the work conducted by the Turtle Hospital.

"Releasing turtles back into the wild is easily the best part of my job," said Ms Huff.

"It's a bitter-sweet experience, because we do get to know each of the turtles and their different personalities while they're in the hospital, and it's like saying goodbye to a friend; but it's very, very rewarding."

SeaLink Queensland, which manages the ferry service between Magnetic Island and mainland Townsville, has ensured the Turtle Hospital will be able to continue its work by donating just over $8,500 to Reef HQ Aquarium and the Magnetic Island Network for Turtles (MINT) at the release.

SeaLink Queensland's General Manager Paul Victory said the donation would support wildlife tourism through programs designed to educate people and give them the chance to get up close with the natural wildlife found on and around Magnetic Island.

"We want to find initiatives that educate people or provide opportunities for people to get up close to wildlife -- they'll be projects such as open days and specials occasions like today's turtle release that we think will help get people closer to nature and discover the abundant opportunities there are to do so on Magnetic Island," said Mr Victory.

"The Christmas school holidays are a great opportunity to do just that. One of the great things about Magnetic Island is you can swim all year round, you can see the rock wallabies, the birds here are amazing, you can feed sea eagles on the Aqua Scene Tour and our bush trails are great -- you'll even start to see some waterfalls as the rain comes."

Reef HQ Aquarium's Director Fred Nucifora said Buffy and Tuesday are expected to stay around Magnetic Island, as turtles are very loyal to their feeding grounds.

"All the reports coming in say that the seagrass beds around Magnetic Island are recovering well following Cyclone Yasi, and MINT will be on the ground here on Magnetic Island keeping a close eye out for Buffy and Tuesday -- I think there's nothing but a positive future for both those young turtles," said Mr Nucifora.

"It's an amazing feeling for myself, the staff and our volunteers to be part of the turtles' rehabilitation process, but the key focus of the Reef HQ Aquarium Turtle Hospital is community engagement. Yes, rehabilitation is vitally important, but intergenerational change through education is critical to the ongoing sustainability of turtle populations in the marine park," said Mr Nucifora.

"Just seeing the number of young faces on the beach here today is really, really heartening because these young people will be the future custodians of the Great Barrier Reef and the animals that live there. The kids being here, and becoming more aware of turtles and the importance of the role they play in the environment, as well as some of the challenges they face from human activity, will better position them to be our decision makers in the future."

If you find a sick or injured turtle, please contact 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625) for assistance.