By Simon Jones
Published Jun 10, 2015 at 8:00 am (Updated Jun 10, 2015 at 2:12 pm)

Hawksbill Sea Turtle at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo. (Photo by Akil Simmons)

A hawksbill turtle that was accidentally caught on a fishing line in St David’s had travelled more than 3,000 miles to get to Bermuda, The Royal Gazette has discovered.

The animal’s journey is even more remarkable because it had a broken rear left flipper. The hawksbill was pulled out of the sea off the Black Horse Tavern dock last month by fishermen who then called animal experts from the aquarium for help.

The turtle was taken to the aquarium, where it was operated on to remove the line and hook from its throat.

Aquarium curator Ian Walker and his staff had been monitoring the animal’s progress since the operation before successfully releasing it back into the wild off Cambridge Beaches on Monday.

“We are very pleased with the turtle’s recovery and extremely happy that we could release it back to the wild,” Dr Walker said. “It’s difficult to say exactly where the turtle will head now, but it is the right kind of age for it to consider heading back to the beach where it was born, somewhere in South America, and laying eggs itself.”

When the hawksbill was caught, aquarium staff discovered that it had originally been tagged in Brazil. They fitted the turtle with new tags before releasing it.

The hawksbill turtle's more than 3,000-mile
journey to Bermuda from the waters off Brazil
(Graphic by Raven Pearman)

“We were able to make contact with the turtle project that initially tagged this animal back in 2006 and trace its movements since that time,” Dr Walker said. “The results reveal an incredible journey made even more incredible because the turtle has had a broken flipper since that time.

“This turtle was tagged in the Biological Reserve of Atol da Rocas, as  part of our Mark Recapture Programme off Brazil, measuring 40cm in January 2006. The hind left limb was broken.

Since 2008, it has swum the equivalent of Flatts to Dublin in Ireland. “It shows how international these animals are and why we must conserve them better globally,” Dr Walker said. “It is why the Bermuda Turtle Project is so important, too. If we don’t tag them, we have no idea where they go.”“It was recaptured on January 14, 2008 at the same site measuring 56cm and recaptured again two weeks later at the same site again. This was the last time that this individual was observed in Brazil.”