SOMEWHERE they took a wrong turning which almost proved fatal. Weak and close to death, they were found thousands of miles from their intended destination.
But today, several months on, the rare and unusual visitors will arrive in the Canary Islands ready to complete their recovery and an incredible journey which nearly ended in Scotland.
Two young loggerhead turtles, which were found washed up in t
he west Highlands in two separate incidents, are being released to the wild after being nursed back to health.
Loggerheads, which normally frequent the warmer waters off America, the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, are rare sights in Scotland. Only about two marine turtles a year have been found on Scottish beaches over the past 15 years, and these are usually the more common leatherbacks.
But, on 20 July last year, an endangered loggerhead was discovered on the beach at Isle Oronsay, off Skye. The creature, which was later given the name Skye, was thought to be about two years old and in a bad way.
She was malnourished, weighed just 2.5kg, was missing a flipper and had a serious wound to her underbelly, where it is thought she became entangled in a fishing net.
Then on 17 December, another loggerhead was found stranded at Ardmucknish Bay at the mouth of Loch Etive in Argyll by a teenager walking his dog. Given the name Holly, the turtle was six or seven months old and weighed 1.05kg. Little hope was held for her survival.
Both were initially taken to the Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary, near Oban, where they began their recuperation. In February, Holly was flown to the Weymouth Sea Life Park in Dorset and, the following month, Skye was taken by road to the purpose-built sea turtle sanctuary, which has specialist facilities, including a tropical ocean tank.
Once there, they were kept in shallow tanks to allow them to regain their strength. Holly was later treated in a quarantine tank and Skye in the larger ocean tank. Holly now weighs 1.5kg and has grown from 25cm to 27cm long, while Skye has grown to 22kg and from 66cm to more than a metre long.
Catherine Cserverka, an aquarist at the centre, said: "They were in a pretty bad way when they were found, but now they have recovered sufficiently to go back to the wild."
Yesterday, the pair were packed in crates and driven to Manchester Airport, before being flown to Gran Canaria. After the four-hour flight they were taken to the Centros de Recupercion de Fauna in Las Palmas, before they are finally released today.
The recovery operation has been funded by Sea Life, which runs the centres in Oban and Weymouth, although the cost has not been revealed.
The flight to Gran Canaria was sponsored by the travel firm MyTravel.
Mark Gibbison, a spokesman for MyTravel Airways, said: "We're delighted that we've been able to assist with the transportation of these wonderful turtles. They are an endangered species and we're pleased they are being returned to the wild."
The exercise has raised the question of using lengthy car and air journeys to help wildlife. According to the Climatecare online calculator, the road journey from Oban to Weymouth would have produced 0.15 tonnes of carbon emissions, while the flights from Skye to Dorset would have produced 0.38 tonnes of and from Manchester to Gran Canaria 0.66 tonnes.
But Ms Cserverka pointed out: "The Sea Life centres work together on these projects, which are part of our work. All marine turtles are endangered species, so we need to help the ones we find. Also, seeing them at close hand allows us to find out more about them."
Sarah Leaney, the sanctuary manager who accompanied the turtles on their flight, added: "This mission will bring the sanctuary's first sea turtle rescues to a successful conclusion and I can't wait to watch them paddle off into the Atlantic.
"It's sure to be a very moving experience and a very satisfying one after all the work that has gone into caring for these two animals over the past eight or nine months."
Loggerhead turtles, which can live more than 50 years, are highly migratory and spend most of their lives in the open ocean where they are often caught in fishing nets and lines.
After hatching, they leave the beach and can spend between five and 15 years circulating in the Gulf Stream.
Brendan Godley, a senior lecturer in conservation biology at Exeter University, said: "Sometimes they get weak and get pushed up the North Atlantic drift, which keeps Scotland relatively warm. They get dragged up in the current and wash up on the beach, often dead, but sometimes half-starved and dying. However, the aquaria in Britain are getting good at rehabilitating them, and that's how these ones have got back on track.
"They then take them to the Canaries, which is part of their normal route, and they can get them back on the conveyor belt.
"It used to be they would always die, but people have got so much better at looking after them. We would expect to see more of them in future as the populations in North America, after 20 years of conservation, are starting to increase so they are producing more eggs and hatchlings. So we could expect more of these juveniles to wash up on our shores."
He added: "It's very important for countries like Britain to look after these animals that arrive here. It gets us talking about bigger issues and helps us to learn more about them."
Three years ago another loggerhead, nicknamed Myrtle the Turtle, was found close to death in North Uist.
She had lost her front right flipper in a suspected shark attack.
After intensive care in Scotland and England, she, too, was flown to Gran Canaria last April for release into the Atlantic.
Bob Reid, of the Scottish Strandings at the Scottish Agricultural College, said numbers of strandings in Scotland are so small it is difficult to predict a trend.
He added: "It's very rare for two [live loggerheads] to be found in Scotland around the same time."
The full article contains 1036 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
