Her last ping came from waters between South America and Africa, a long way from the Witsand beach where she was rescued years ago!
South Africa (27 October 2026) – Nori’s satellite tag has stopped transmitting, ending 309 days of tracking in which the green turtle covered an astounding 12,540km, an average of 40.5km a day!
The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation says the silence isn’t unusual and doesn’t necessarily mean anything has happened to her. Most likely the battery has run out, or the tag has fallen off. Green turtles have smoother, rounder, oilier shells than other species, so tags don’t stay on as well.
Nori was rescued in Witsand in 2023 with neurological and eyesight issues. Both her eyes were healthy, but a neurological exam showed her right eye wasn’t responding normally. She spent two years at the Turtle Conservation Centre on an enrichment programme that focused on cognitive enrichment, to rebuild her wild skills.
In November last year, she was released into the De Hoop Marine Protected Area, wearing a tag sponsored by her adopters, the Morukuru Goodwill Foundation.
She first headed south, looping through eddies near the Agulhas Current, then turned north into the Atlantic. She passed Namibia and Angola, crossed the Walvis Ridge (a chain of enormous underwater mountains) and carried on into the tropics. For much of the trip she swam independently of the surface currents, passing important green turtle foraging and nesting areas along the way.
Eventually she started swimming big loops in the warm currents between South America and Africa, where shifting currents and nutrients create pockets of productivity. Her last transmission came from water of 28 to 29°C.
The team says her tracks gave them real insight into how a rehabilitated green turtle moves and behaves in the wild.
“Nori’s tracks provided us with amazing insight into the wild movements and behaviour of a rehabilitated green turtle and, although her tag has stopped transmitting, her journey certainly hasn’t ended. The world is at her flipper tips!” the foundation shares.
The TOA foundation adds that more updates on the team’s other satellite-tagged turtles are still to come!
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