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DUBAI TURTLE REHABILITATION PROJECT RESCUES RARE BABY LOGGERHEAD TURTLE
(MENAFN- Tales & Heads) United Arab Emirates, Dubai, 20 February 2025: Earlier this month, Jumeirah’s Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) rescued a baby loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) – an extremely rare occurrence of a juvenile of this species found inside the Arabian Gulf.
According to local experts and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) records, loggerheads are not known to nest in the Arabian Gulf, and one this small could not have travelled from outside the region. The last recorded loggerhead babies rescued by the DTRP was in Abu Dhabi in 2016. While no credible evidence of foraging sites has been found in UAE waters, this discovery underscores the need for expanded monitoring to determine if loggerheads are nesting in the region.
Commenting on the significance of this rescue, Barbara Lang-Lenton, Director of Aquarium at Jumeirah Burj Al Arab and DTRP lead, said: “This discovery is a major breakthrough for sea turtle conservation in the region. While we’ve known that adult loggerhead sea turtles occasionally visit the Arabian Gulf, there has been no recorded evidence of nesting or foraging – until now. Finding a juvenile loggerhead of this size confirms that the species is, in fact, nesting within Gulf waters. This follows another significant milestone last year when a green turtle nest was discovered in Abu Dhabi for the first time. Although green turtles are abundant in those waters, no green turtle nesting had ever been documented in the emirate before. Sea turtles have remarkably complex biology, and there is still much to uncover about their behaviours, migration patterns, and nesting habits in this region. Each new finding, like this one, helps us piece together a more complete picture of their presence and life cycles in the Gulf, guiding future conservation efforts.”
The loggerhead baby is estimated to be around 7 to 9 months old and was found stranded in the Jebel Ali Marine Protected Area. Like all the DTRP’s rescues, she will receive initial treatment at Jumeirah Burj Al Arab’s Aquarium, before being moved to the Turtle Rehabilitation Sanctuary located in Jumeirah Al Naseem to receive dedicated care and recover in the lagoon before being released.
The DTRP, a Jumeirah initiative, has rescued 103 turtles since 1 January 2025, with more being rescued every day. Most of these have been young hawksbills experiencing their first winter and weighing only 150 to 400 grams. Turtle rescues are common at this time of the year, because sea turtles – like other reptiles – cannot regulate their body temperature. In the winter months when the water is colder, they are less active, and younger turtles may be prone to sickness. When the sea is rough, they drift to shore and get stranded on the beach. The rescue organisation has called upon the general public to report any stranded, distressed, or injured sea turtles immediately so steps can be taken to look after them at the dedicated DTRP facilities. Residents can contact DTRP on the dedicated toll-free hotline 800 TURTLE (800 887853) for advice on how best to care for the animal while waiting for the team to arrive. For any beachgoers who find an injured or stranded sea turtle, the DTRP advises taking the animal out of the water and wrapping it in a wet towel. Any epibiota, barnacles or oysters growing on the body should not be removed, as doing so could be painful and cause health complications for the turtle.
DTRP is run in collaboration with Dubai’s Wildlife Protection Office, with laboratory work provided by the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL). Since its launch in 2004, the DTRP has found, nursed, and released 2,196 rehabilitated turtles back into the sea, with 89 monitored by satellite tracking. One of the tagged turtles has even travelled as far as Thailand. Every time a sick or injured turtle is found, experts at the DTRP nurse them back to health until they are ready to swim in the open waters again.
According to local experts and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) records, loggerheads are not known to nest in the Arabian Gulf, and one this small could not have travelled from outside the region. The last recorded loggerhead babies rescued by the DTRP was in Abu Dhabi in 2016. While no credible evidence of foraging sites has been found in UAE waters, this discovery underscores the need for expanded monitoring to determine if loggerheads are nesting in the region.
Commenting on the significance of this rescue, Barbara Lang-Lenton, Director of Aquarium at Jumeirah Burj Al Arab and DTRP lead, said: “This discovery is a major breakthrough for sea turtle conservation in the region. While we’ve known that adult loggerhead sea turtles occasionally visit the Arabian Gulf, there has been no recorded evidence of nesting or foraging – until now. Finding a juvenile loggerhead of this size confirms that the species is, in fact, nesting within Gulf waters. This follows another significant milestone last year when a green turtle nest was discovered in Abu Dhabi for the first time. Although green turtles are abundant in those waters, no green turtle nesting had ever been documented in the emirate before. Sea turtles have remarkably complex biology, and there is still much to uncover about their behaviours, migration patterns, and nesting habits in this region. Each new finding, like this one, helps us piece together a more complete picture of their presence and life cycles in the Gulf, guiding future conservation efforts.”
The loggerhead baby is estimated to be around 7 to 9 months old and was found stranded in the Jebel Ali Marine Protected Area. Like all the DTRP’s rescues, she will receive initial treatment at Jumeirah Burj Al Arab’s Aquarium, before being moved to the Turtle Rehabilitation Sanctuary located in Jumeirah Al Naseem to receive dedicated care and recover in the lagoon before being released.
The DTRP, a Jumeirah initiative, has rescued 103 turtles since 1 January 2025, with more being rescued every day. Most of these have been young hawksbills experiencing their first winter and weighing only 150 to 400 grams. Turtle rescues are common at this time of the year, because sea turtles – like other reptiles – cannot regulate their body temperature. In the winter months when the water is colder, they are less active, and younger turtles may be prone to sickness. When the sea is rough, they drift to shore and get stranded on the beach. The rescue organisation has called upon the general public to report any stranded, distressed, or injured sea turtles immediately so steps can be taken to look after them at the dedicated DTRP facilities. Residents can contact DTRP on the dedicated toll-free hotline 800 TURTLE (800 887853) for advice on how best to care for the animal while waiting for the team to arrive. For any beachgoers who find an injured or stranded sea turtle, the DTRP advises taking the animal out of the water and wrapping it in a wet towel. Any epibiota, barnacles or oysters growing on the body should not be removed, as doing so could be painful and cause health complications for the turtle.
DTRP is run in collaboration with Dubai’s Wildlife Protection Office, with laboratory work provided by the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL). Since its launch in 2004, the DTRP has found, nursed, and released 2,196 rehabilitated turtles back into the sea, with 89 monitored by satellite tracking. One of the tagged turtles has even travelled as far as Thailand. Every time a sick or injured turtle is found, experts at the DTRP nurse them back to health until they are ready to swim in the open waters again.
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