Visitors to the Two Oceans Aquarium may be familiar with Nori, a green turtle currently housed in the I&J Ocean Exhibit. This brave green turtle has a fascinating story – she has been undergoing rehabilitation with our Turtle Conservation Centre since being rescued in Witsand in May 2023. We are thrilled that the Morukuru Goodwill Foundation has adopted Nori – their support is appreciated in providing Nori with the care she needs to be able to return to the wild one day.
Nori’s story
In the initial period after arrival at the Turtle Conservation Centre, Nori appeared healthy – she had a strong appetite and was in good body condition. However, as time went on, our team noticed that Nori was easily stressed, swam in clockwise circles repeatedly, and frequently bit at her front flippers.
A neurological examination by our veterinary team revealed that Nori’s right eye did not have a normal response to stimuli.
This prompted our team to consult an eye specialist in July 2023, who examined her and determined that both eyes were healthy and fully functional despite the lack of response on her right side. All these factors pointed towards a deeper neurological issue, but still, Nori’s MRI results did not reveal anything abnormal.
Our team decided to move Nori into bigger housing to evaluate her behaviour in a larger space. This was coupled with the introduction of sensory and feeding enrichment for Nori's overall development. All these actions had an immediate positive impact, eliminating her stressful and irregular behaviours!
This prompted Nori’s move into the I&J Ocean Exhibit, which is the perfect space for the turtles in rehabilitation to experience a "soft release" or a taste of ocean life while our team observes and treats them before their eventual release. As Nori’s eyesight is still an issue, this move allows her to benefit from the bigger space and variety of stimuli of the Exhibit while still being carefully monitored.
Nori’s environmental enrichment
During this phase of her rehabilitation, our turtle team is continuously monitoring Nori’s progress through an active environmental enrichment programme and monthly neurological exams.
Environmental enrichment (EE) encourages Nori to exhibit wild behaviours, provides mental stimulation, and facilitates problem-solving for a reward. This EE programme is tailored to her rehabilitation journey, incorporating cognitive, physical, sensory, and feeding-related EE. Nori receives these enrichments three times a week, during which our team closely monitors her responses and tracks her progress week to week. We hope that, over time, we will start to see an improvement in response on her right side.
Our observations have revealed that cognitive enrichment - tasks where Nori works for a reward - is particularly beneficial in her rehabilitation. One such task is the "food tower", which encourages turtles to work for their food by stimulating scavenging behaviour. This enrichment device challenges the turtles to navigate various obstacles to obtain their reward, much like they would while foraging in the wild. The "food tower" is constructed by inserting pipes perpendicularly into the main framework, resembling branches on a tree. To add a further layer of complexity, each pipe is positioned at a different angle and height, with food placed inside it. While Nori's ability to navigate the "food tower" is affected by her difficulties with depth perception, we hope that continued interaction with this enrichment will gradually help her overcome these challenges.
Environmental enrichment has proven to be a powerful rehabilitation tool, as our team saw with past green turtle patient Bob. After two years of active enrichment, Bob had recovered from intense neurological damage, and she was released back into the ocean. The team is hopeful that we have the same success with Nori!
With the support of the Morukuru Goodwill Foundation, our Turtle Conservation Centre can continue to provide Nori with the expert care she needs to one day return to the ocean. We are so proud of the strides Nori has made in her journey thus far, and while she still has progress to make, we are optimistic for her future.
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