Jorge the sea turtlewhich has been in captivity for 38 years in the former municipal aquarium of Mendoza – this Tuesday converted into a Conservation Center for Biodiversity – will be transferred this Wednesday to a Marine Fauna Rehabilitation Center from the city of Mar del Plata to begin their gradual and progressive reintegration into natural life, municipal sources reported.
Once it arrives at the Rehabilitation Center of the Mar del Plata Aquarium, the animal will have an adaptation stage in a 120,000-liter pond of seawater, and it is expected that it can then be transferred to a lagoon adjoining the sea, they detailed from the municipality.
Currently, “Jorge” remains in a pond of 20,000 liters of water.
“This historical fact has the purpose of fulfilling two main objectives: to increase the levels of environmental well-being that Jorge the tortoise currently enjoys and to explore the possibility, after having carried out a technically consistent systematic plan and accompanied by a group of specialists, that eventually Jorge will return to his natural ecosystem”, explained this Tuesday Sebastián Fermani, Undersecretary of Environment of the Municipality of the city of Mendoza
Fermani stressed that this work plan is part of a broader process that has to do with the reconversion of the former aquarium to the current Diversity Reconversion Center.
According to the official, the transfer of the tortoise Jorge involved “a great challenge” and remarked that “since he was found on the coast of Bahía Blanca and until he moved to our municipality, he has spent 38 years in very well-cared-for captivity. ”.
He further highlighted that “It is very difficult today to think of an immediate release to the sea” since it would imply an attempt against their well-being and recalled that “during all these years he has been fed and has swum at an average depth of one and a half meters.”
“Currently in the sea there are great dangers that could threaten their own lives such as fishing nets, plastic, among other threats,” he added.
“There are few precedents in the world of a case similar to that of the tortoise Jorge,” said Fermani, so “the challenge is even greater because we do not have examples of comparison.”
He indicated that after having consulted specialists from all over the world, the municipality entered into an agreement with the aforementioned rehabilitation center, establishing a work plan to improve the quality of life of the specimen.
He added that the tortoise cannot be exhibited publicly and that the municipality does not disregard it.
“We maintain legal guardianship, we are going to ensure that each stage is fulfilled and that “Jorge” enjoys greater animal welfare”said the official.
The turtle will travel on a private flight from the local company Aerotec and it is estimated that the flight will last about four hours.
For his part, the Head of Veterinary Medicine of the Aquarium Center, Adrián Faiella, stressed that “it is a challenge and an important responsibility for us that we have faced this joint plan in several stages.”
“We have been working for more than a year, trying to gradually adapt Jorge to a saline and natural environment,” said the specialist.
The veterinarian stressed that the next challenge is the transfer this Wednesday.
“We are talking about an animal of one hundred kilos and we are attentive and expectant so that everything goes well,” he added.
“The transfer of these animals is not done dry, keeping it humid, controlling the temperature of the environment and in a container that limits their movements”explained the veterinarian, who added that there will be two veterinarians accompanying him on the trip.
The turtle had arrived in Mendoza in 1984 after being found in a fishing area in Bahía Blanca, where it is believed to have been dragged by sea currents from the Gulf of Mexico, where these large turtles usually live.
But since there were no places in Argentina to be received, the authorities decided to house him in the Mendoza aquarium.
