DURBAN – Jina the adult loggerhead turtle that had its front flippers bitten by a tiger shark is doing well and appears to be healthy while recovering at uShaka Sea World.
Ann Kunz of uShaka Sea World said: “Jina is doing remarkably well and other than her wounds which are still healing, she appears to be healthy.
“Luckily her wounds were not infected and are healing without any intervention,” she said.
Kunz said Jina was the queen of resting and spent most of the day either sleeping or in quiet cruise mode.
“She navigates her shallow (1.5m) convalescent pool in the uShaka Sea World turtle rehabilitation facility remarkably well. We are leaving her to rest, heal and gain confidence before we move her to deeper pools,” Kunz said.
The only time that changed was when she was offered food.
“She has a good appetite and consumes about 1.5 kgs of fish each day. She is fed squid, hake, prawns and sardines and currently shows no food preference,” Kunz said.
Jina was admitted at the start of January after being bitten by a tiger shark.
The turtle’s front flippers were bitten.
She only has one-third of her left flipper and two-thirds of her right flipper, yet she is able to navigate through the water and come to the surface to breathe.
When she arrived at uShaka Sea World, Jina was found not to be bleeding heavily and appeared to be in good condition other than the injuries to her flippers. She was given pain relief and left to rest in a shallow pool.
On Wednesday, the Daily News reported on a video of a turtle being attacked by a tiger shark in Hibberdene, off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
The video was posted in a Facebook group by Jacques Oosthuizen on Monday morning.
The post was captioned “Tiger shark vs turtle off Hibberdene yesterday”, which was referring to Sunday.
The post has received more than 110 comments, more than 140 shares, more than 300 Facebook reactions and the video has been viewed more than 7 500 times.
Commenting on the post, some loved to witness the beauty of nature, others questioned why the videographer did not intervene, while the rest stuck with humour.
Daily News