Royal Navy Rescues Rare Turtles Knocked 1,500 Miles Off Course By Storm

The Royal Navy has rescued six turtles that were blown thousands of miles off course from warmer waters towards the UK coastline. The half a dozen loggerhead turtles were transported back to warmer seas, about 1,500 miles southwest of Britain. The juvenile turtles, swept from the Caribbean or the Eastern Seaboard of the USA by strong winds and Atlantic currents ended up in the cold waters around the UK, where they quickly became 'cold-stunned' and would have died if not rescued. Five of them washed up in Cornwall and Devon and were cared for by staff at Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium while the sixth turtle was nurtured by the Anglesey Sea Zoo after being found on one of the island's beaches. Steve Matchett, group curator for Blue Reef Aquarium, shared: "All the turtles arrived in a weakened state. All were dehydrated and emaciated. They have all prospered once we got them past the initial stages.”.