Sea Life Great Yarmouth has discovered an ingenious way to combat its Green sea turtles' destructive itching habits…
Turtles Ernie and Noah like nothing better than a good brisk back-scrape with a rough toilet brush.
And after discovering that this prevents them from wrecking their tank the Centre has assigned back-scratching duties to their experienced curator.
"Green sea turtles rub their shells against rocks and other hard surfaces when they get an itch, much like us humans," said curator Christine Pitcher.
"Some turtles rub their shells against rocks and other hard surfaces to dislodge unwanted passengers like barnacles and limpets. Even though there are no shellfish in their tank, this doesn’t seem to stop Ernie and Noah scraping against the artificial display and no matter how hardwearing the display is, the turtles are so huge that they have inevitably damaged part of it."
Thinking on their feet, staff discovered that a back-scratching session seems to cure that itch and lessens the turtles' wrecking tendencies…
Sea Life Great Yarmouth this month welcomes back 'Turtle Fest': a global initiative introduced by Sea Life in order to raise money for the Sea Life Marine Conservation Trust. The event runs from May 12 until June 1 where visitors can experience exclusive talks from turtle specialists, a 'Find Tyler' quiz trail and a chance to meet Tyler the Turtle himself.
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