The Lower Breede River Conservancy rescued the first turtle hatchling from Wits ands this week.
Jason Oxley, the Manager of the Breede River Conservancy, said the little one was sent to a hospital at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town.
He said the Conservancy is part of a network of organisations, collecting turtles along the coast.
The other two hospitals are at Bayworld in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and uShaka Marine in KwaZulu-Natal (Durban).
Over 530 stranded turtles have washed out in just a few weeks.
According to the Two Oceans Aquarium, most sea turtles wash up in the cold water of the Western Coastline in Summer, having entered from the warm Agulhas Current, in Northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Teams at three facilities in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) and Durban eThekwini), provide medical care and rest before they are released back to sea.
There are only seven species of sea turtles on Earth, and all of them except two (the flatback turtle and Kemp’s ridley turtle) visit South Africa. Sadly, all five species that occur in South African waters appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Two Oceans Aquarium).
Picture: Lower Breede River Conservancy