The Irish Naval Service is given a special mission to return a loggerhead turtle to the wild.
In 1999 a loggerhead turtle, was washed ashore at Achill Island in Mayo and found by a local family who named her Spike because of two sharp points on the back of her shell. Loggerheads are an endangered species.
Close to death from cold and a lack of food Spike was taken to Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium in County Kerry, where over time she regained full health. Her weight increased from 12 kilograms on arrival to a healthy weight of 22.5 kilograms.
The Irish Naval Service came to the rescue of Dingle Oceanworld when they answered a call to help return Spike to the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. Spike will be transported 200 miles off the south coast of Ireland and released into the sea.
Kevin Flannery of Oceanworld is delighted Spike can return to her natural environment, and based on her behaviour in Ocenworld, he is confident she can fend for herself in the wild.
The sharks were afraid of her.
Captain of the LÉ Aoife, Lieutenant Commander Pearse O'Donnell is unperturbed about working with a loggerhead turtle prone to sporadic temper tantrums.
I think us sailors are well used to dealing with aggressive females and we'll have no problems at all.
The crew of the LÉ Aoife have decided the name Spike is too masculine so they have renamed her Tina Turtle.
Once in the wild, Spike or Tina Turtle is expected to start breeding in 2006 and could live to be 80 years old.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 22 August 2000. The reporter is John O’Driscoll.
