Rescued loggerhead sea turtle Moira flown from B.C. to U.S. for release

“One must champion oneself and say, ‘I am ready for this’!” as the iconic Moira Rose once said.

And now another Moira is proving she is ready for a new journey ahead.

In February, a loggerhead sea turtle, rarely seen in B.C. waters, was rescued near Victoria.

The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society nicknamed the turtle Moira and said she only had a core temperature of 8.4 C after being found in Pedder Bay between Victoria and Sooke.

Luckily, Moira was taken into the rescue society and nursed back to health.

Thanks to everyone’s hard work and cooperation, Moira was released into the ocean off San Diego a few days ago and is now on her way to Mexico and warmer waters.

“We were able to work with the Turtles Fly Too, which is a non-profit company based in the United States who flies stranded turtles to or from either rescue to rehabilitation or rehabilitation to release,” Lindsaye Akhurst, senior manager of the Marine Mammal Rescue Society, told Global News.

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“And then (we) also work(ed) with our friends at SeaWorld Rescue who were able to get Moira down to San Diego and place her in the facility for a couple of days to see how she managed after post-flight. And a couple of days later, we were able to which was a couple of days ago, able to see Moira back out to the ocean. Really great to be part of that whole story.”

0:31 Rarely seen turtle rescued off Vancouver Island

Akhurst acknowledged that Moira is named after Moira Rose of Schitt’s Creek fame as it’s a favourite show for many of their staff.

She said it is really important to return a turtle like Moira back to the wild.

“She is at a reproductive age,” Akhurst said.

“She’s a loggerhead sea turtle, which is endangered. So being able to return an animal back that can hopefully reproduce and bring more of these animals back out into the wild, it would be obviously the goal for her.”

Moira was only the second loggerhead sea turtle to ever be recorded in B.C. waters and Akhurst said they were able to place a satellite link transmitter on her so they can follow her movements.

“So far she’s going south,” Akhurst added.

Anyone can track Moira or ‘adopt’ her on the website (click on the satellite tracking to see her progress).

0:46 Rare tropical sea turtle washes up in B.C. water near Port Alberni