Invercargill’s Oreti Beach had an unexpected visitor when an exhausted, terminally ill turtle washed ashore.
The 27-kilogram turtle was thought to be an olive ridley, a species normally found in the tropics.
It was found alive by a member of the public and reported to the DOC hotline on Monday.
Department of Conservation Senior Biodiversity Ranger Ros Cole said the turtle was in a critical condition and had severe hypothermia.
“DOC staff tended to the turtle, providing emergency care and veterinary assistance was also called on, but the odds were stacked against it and the turtle did not make it through the night,” Ms Cole said.
"Olive ridley turtles are normally found in tropical and sub-tropical waters – anyone who’s been to the beach in Southland will know Oreti Beach certainly does not fit that profile."
"With temperatures on Monday dropping to about -2˚, the conditions would have been extreme for a species accustomed to temperatures of around 30˚,” she said.
Ms Cole said while it was not unheard of, a turtle was a rare sight to see on a Southland beach.
“It’s possibly arrived courtesy of the East Australia Current, or it could have been blown off course by a storm.
"While we can’t know for sure the exact set of circumstances leading to it landing on Oreti Beach, other cases from around New Zealand generally reveal wayward turtles are usually suffering from underlying disease or illness and very rarely are able to be rehabilitated.”
A necropsy will be undertaken to determine the cause of death.
