Turtle in danger VIP receives urgent help from airline: Rescue after fierce storm

On January 9, much of Europe came to a standstill due to Storm Goretti, a powerful winter cyclone with winds of up to 177 km/h that reached the region from the south.

Shortly after, a beach collector found a young loggerhead turtle stranded on the Island of Jersey near the coast of France, having been blown hundreds of miles off course by strong winds.

The warm-water reptile was “cold stunned” — a condition of immobility caused by prolonged exposure to cold water — and was rushed to a local animal hospital.

Veterinarian Peter Haworth of New Era Hospital was able to stabilize the weakened and malnourished sea turtle in a small tank, thanks to the heated seawater provided by The Jersey Oyster Company, but the young turtle needed more space.

A turbulent journey across the English Channel to Britain by boat could have caused undue stress for the endangered species, so Peter contacted ‘the friendly skies’ for help and a VIP plane ticket for the rescued turtle.

Call Crushin honor of the Finding Nemo character, the sea turtle finally received permission from Loganair to fly as a First Class passenger on a scheduled flight to Southampton, England, where she was picked up and flown 90 miles to her long-term care facility, the SeaLife Center in Weymouth.

“Without a doubt, this has been one of the most unusual passengers we have welcomed on board,” said Ronnie Matheson, Loganair’s chief commercial officer.

“Our teams worked closely with Peter and his colleagues to ensure he could travel as smoothly and comfortably as possible.”

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Dan Townsend, head of ground operations at Southampton Airport, said: “We are delighted to support this special journey and play a small part in helping this young tortoise get the expert care he needs.”

“Our teams work closely with airline partners like Loganair to ensure unique animal movements like this are handled safely and seamlessly, and we are proud to help facilitate their continued recovery.”

CT scans at the Jersey hospital identified a higher than normal amount of sand in his esophagus, but some was removed to prevent any future blockage, and the SeaLife Center hopes to release it back into the loggerheads’ habitat this spring.