The Mayo News

A young Loggerhead Sea Turtle made an unexpected landing last week onto an Achill beach.

SPECIAL ARRIVAL The loggerhead turtle, which was discovered last week on an Achill beach, with local children, from left: Edel O’Malley, Debra Barrett, Rebecca Barrett and Corey Kilbane

Endangered turtle detours to Achill from Florida

Anton McNulty

A YOUNG Loggerhead Sea Turtle made an unexpected landing last week when its sonar system failed and washed it over 3,000 miles off course onto an Achill beach. The loggerhead turtle, which is an endangered species, normally lives in warmer waters along the Florida coast and sighting of it in these waters are very rare.
However, last Sunday, when Achill man Patrick Barrett was walking along Keel beach he noticed what he thought was a leather-back turtle. After bringing it back to his home, he fed it some cans of tuna and got in contact with the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS), who told him it was a loggerhead turtle. He also believed, by the shape of its shell, that the turtle was a young female.
“I was walking along the beach at about 1.30 in the afternoon when I saw the turtle. It was shook looking and I brought it up to the house and gave it some cans of tuna which seemed to charge her up a bit. It was exciting to see one of those turtles up close because they are not the type of animal which appear on the beach every day. It looked very healthy and seemed like it wanted to get back into the sea. I saw a turtle like it years ago but it was a lot smaller and he died on the shore after getting a battering by the waves,” he said.
Patrick explained that the turtle’s shell was 14 inches by 18 inches in diameter and, after she was given a clean bill of health, she was brought down to Keem Bay to be released. They placed her on a surfboard and brought her past the surf before releasing her back into the Atlantic.
Mr Lee McDaid, an official with the NPWS, told The Mayo News that the sight of a Loggerhead Turtle along the Irish coast was very rare and he felt the the strong currents and high winds would have blown the turtle off course towards the Achill coast. He said he was speaking to experts in the UK who said that their natural habitat was along the south-east coast of the United States and the turtle may have got lost following jellyfish.
Loggerheads are so named because of their relatively large heads, which support powerful jaws and enable them to feed on hard-shelled prey. The average adults along the US coast are 92cm long and can weigh up to 113kg. The loggerhead turtle was listed as an endangered species in 1978 and one of the greatest causes of decline and its continuing primary threat is capture in fishing gear. They are protected by various international treaties and agreements, as well as by national laws.

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