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Turtle Breaks Record Swimming 37,000 Km From Africa To Australia, Helping In Marine Research

Turtle Breaks Record Swimming 37,000 Km From Africa To Australia, Helping In Marine Research

Tuesday, March 17, 2020 IST

Yoshi -- a loggerhead turtle who was a part of Two Oceans Aquarium in South Africa was put back into the ocean in 2017, however with a small tracker at her back that helped the people at the aquarium as well as researchers look at her whereabouts.

And now, after nearly 26 months being in the ocean, the data reveals that she has travelled all the way from Africa to Australia -- that is a whopping 37,000-kilometre journey.

This as of now is the longest every recorded journey of any tracked animal ever. On a good day, Yoshi was able to cover a goof 48 kilometres every day. Although in her initial phase she only circled around South Africa, Namibia etc while coming to coasts for food, last year, her trajectory shifted outside of Africa and now she is merely 66 kilometres away from the Western Australian Coast.

The place Yoshi is off to is actually home to biodiversity-rich snorkelling hotspots like Honeymoon Cove. She also travelled across the Rowley Shelf -- a range of beautiful atolls with a variety of species to look out for.

Yoshi’s trajectory to Australian shores, however, is a blessing in disguise, as the battery on her tracker is on the verge of dying out. However, Australian conservationists and researchers are on standby to swap out the batteries as well as check up on her if she ends up on one of the beaches in Australia.

She was actually found by a Japanese fisherman in 1997 when she weighed just two kilograms. She at the time had an injury to the side of the shell and the captain of the ship named her after the cook ‘Yoshitaro’ who was aboard the ship.

He contacted Two Oceans Aquarium and sought help to cure the little turtle’s injury. Soon they took her and cared for her until 20 years later when she weighed a whopping 180 kilograms. Later Yoshi’s breeding instincts started kicking in and at that time the researchers at the aquarium thought it to be best to send her back to the oceans.

Source : https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/science-and-future/yoshi-the-turtle-h...