Michaelangelo the Loggerhead

Turtle

This is Michaelangelo our Loggerhead Sea Turtle. He was found washed up on a beach near a village in Co.Clare called Quilty, at the start of January this year. The reason for him getting stranded on the beach was from the turtle getting caught up in storms out at sea., which left him tired and de-hydrated. Turtles are not normally seen in our waters as they only pass through our Irish coasts on their journey Southwards. But sometimes if there is a storm out at sea the turtles can get caught up in them, which forces them to get washed up onto a beach.

The people who found “Michaelangelo” contacted Lahinch Seaworld and asked us if we could take him. We said yes. As the previous year we had acquired another Loggerhead Turtle named “Leonardo” which we nursed back to health, and was then flown to the Algarve,Portugal, in June 1999.

Loggerhead turtles are marine reptiles, only venturing onto land to lay eggs. They breed every other year and lay three to four clutches of eggs in a season. The female turtle comes ashore at night and proceeds to dig a very large hole in the sand, where she will put the eggs and then cover them with sand. She will then go back into the ocean until a few weeks have passed then return to lay some more eggs. After 2 months the eggs will hatch out and as soon as the juveniles dig their way out of the sand they head straight for the sea where they will spend the next 20 years or so before heading onto land to lay eggs.

Loggerhead turtles are carnivores feeding mainly on crabs, jellyfish, squid, etc... They have a life span of approx. 60-100 years and reach a maximum length of 4-5 feet. As with the turtle we had last year, “ Michaelangelo” will be kept with us the summer and hopefully flown to the Algarve.