Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay

Visitors have the chance to see a pair of rescued sea turtles after they spent eight weeks recovering in special quarantine facilities at Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium. The two loggerhead turtles have been moved to the aquarium's 'lagoon' display for the latest stage in their rehabilitation prior to being released back into the wild.

The pair, who have been named Steve and Squirt, have made remarkable recoveries since they were both discovered within weeks of each stranded on Cornish beaches. If all goes well the aquarium is hoping to fly them out to the Canary Islands in the next couple of months where they will be returned to the wild.Blue Reef's curator, Matt Slater, said: "These are by far the smallest turtles we have looked after and we were all a little concerned when they first came in to see whether they would make it. Fortunately they're clearly both real little fighters and have responded extremely well to treatment. Now they are in the larger lagoon display they will be able to fully exercise their flippers, get used to swimming again and regenerate lost muscle mass," he added.

Loggerhead turtles can reach lengths in excess of a metre. They are carnivorous feeding on crabs, shellfish, molluscs and jellyfish. Their main nesting sites are in Oman in the Middle East and Florida in the US. Loggerhead turtles are rare in UK waters but their numbers, along with other warm water species do seem to be on the rise. Experts think this particular animal has probably travelled over from America in the milder waters of the Gulf Stream. Blue Reef is the country's leading turtle rescue and rehabilitation centre having successfully released nine turtles back into the wild in recent year.

BRIAN TAYLOR

NEWSDESK

30TH NOVEMBER 2009.