Nazare the sea turtle is released back into the wild after rehabilitation in Blackpool

Nazare the sea turtle Credit: Sea Life

An injured loggerhead sea turtle has been given a third chance at life following a successful rehabilitation programme in Blackpool.

Nazare was discovered washed up on a beach in Barrow-in-Furness in February 2024 showing no signs of movement.

The turtle was severely cold-stunned, suffering from pneumonia, and covered with a thick build-up of algae and seaweed on her shell when she arrived at Sea Life Blackpool.

Nazare was severely cold-stunned, had pneumonia, and was covered with algae and seaweed on arrival in Blackpool Credit: British Divers Marine Life Rescue

Sea Life discovered she had been stranded before. Nazare had a satellite tracking device fitted to her shell when she was found. Sea Life used its network to reach out to other aquariums around Europe and found the turtle had been released in June the previous year, having been found stranded before in France.

The staff at Sea Life Blackpool gradually raised her body temperature, administered hydration injections, and closely monitored her condition.

The team created floats to support her in order to make sure she did not drown, as well as using a toothbrush to clean her shell and within days, she began showing signs of improvement, eating and moving independently.

Once stabilised, she was transferred to Sea Life Scarborough for further rehabilitation. Curator Todd German said the turtle was transported from Blackpool in the front of the van with him due to the cold temperatures.

“We were closely monitoring her behaviour, her actions, her feeding, even how often she was pooping, and then from there … we were able to transport her into our ocean tank,”

Once the team at Sea Life were happy Nazare was fit, healthy and ready to be returned to the wild, they secured Nazare her own 'turtle passport', enabling her to be flown to the Azores.

Todd German and Scott Blacker from SeaLife releasing Nazare into the sea off the coast of Horta in the Azores Credit: Sea Life

Naza was temporarily housed at Porto Pim aquarium in Portugal before her release back into the wild in September 2024.

Mr German said a different turtle was rehabilitated by Scarborough Sea Life last year and the team learned “loads of lessons” from its rehabilitation, which took months due to the paperwork involved.

“That meant the rehabilitation process could be a lot quicker for Nazare and in the end, it only took about five or six months, although we had a lot of challenges in getting her over to the Azores.”