Tracking Nori… A Happy Conservation Story

Nori, the green turtle, has checked in with her first satellite tracking update. Released back into her ocean home at De Hoop Marine Protected Area in late November, she has been making some fascinating moves as she settles down.

Nori’s was rescued in Witsand in 2023, and then underwent an intensive rehabilitation and enrichment programme to restore her impaired eyesight. She is one of four turtles that have successfully been returned to the ocean.

Thanks to her adopters, Morukuru Goodwill Foundation, which sponsored her satellite tag, the Two Oceans Aquarium’s Turtle Conservation Centre has been able to follow her journey. As a rehabilitated subadult green turtle, her movements after being released at the De Hoop MPA, are adding valuable insights to the global body of knowledge supporting turtle conservation.

De Hoop MPA’s abundant coastal ecosystems and warmer waters are well-suited to the lifestyles of subadult turtles, particularly those of green and hawksbill turtles, but even the Turtle Conservation Centre team has been surprised by the short time it took Nori to recalibrate and acclimatise within the De Hoop MPA before venturing further.

Instead, she immediately headed offshore, her initial movements mirroring those of Bheni, the only other satellite-tagged turtle released from this site. Just like Bheni, she moved southwest straight through the Agulhas Mud MPA before being carried westward along the continental shelf. In this first week, Nori covered 144km and averaged about 20km per day. 

Since then, nothing about Nori’s reintroduction into the wild has been in the slow lane. In fact she upped the ante, travelling an impressive 1 154km with an average of 58km per day. 

From the continental shelf, Nori joined the flow of the Agulhas Current as it turned and shifted south, moving through the Southeast Atlantic Seamounts MPA towards South Africa’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The EEZ covers the portion of the ocean where South Africa has jurisdiction. On 11 December, just two weeks after her release, Nori passed beyond this boundary, putting her a remarkable 370km offshore.

She has continued moving southward within the Agulhas Current towards the Richardson Seamount, which is part of the Agulhas–Falkland Fracture Zone. Along this fracture zone lie two others: The Meteor and the Orcadas Seamounts. These seamounts are believed to have once formed a single volcanic island and create unique marine habitats. Seamounts are typically hotspots of aggregation for marine life – their steep topography forces nutrient-rich waters upwards, creating wonderful feeding opportunities and attracting abundant life like turtles.

Says the Two Ocean Aquarium, “These early movements from Nori are incredibly exciting. They show bold exploration and make it clear that she required no adjustment before jumping straight into her oceanic adventures. It’s going to be a real treat to see where Nori decides to go next!”

The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation and Morukuru Goodwill Foundation have since signed of a further three-year partnership which will allow the Turtle Conservation Centre to continue important rehabilitation work with three turtles, fit them with satellite tags once they are ready for release, and track their movements post-release.