Tracking our turtles: Snacks and stopovers for Kai and Nori

18 June, 2026 - Blog, Foundation, Turtles, Turtle tracking, Conservation, Marine Protected Areas

Just 33 days ago, our Turtle Conservation Centre released loggerhead turtle Kai back into his ocean home after six years of rehabilitation. During that time, our team has watched with fascination and fondness as he has readjusted to life in the big blue.

So far, Kai has travelled 751km, averaging 23km per day. His journey thus far has been a fairly casual sojourn up the South African coastline, which is totally expected. As he headed along the Garden Route, Kai passed many of our Turtle Rescue Network Points (including those in Struisbaai, where he was rescued as a hatchling in 2020). He gave a friendly wave to our turtle rehabilitation partners at Bayworld in Gqeberha before continuing north-east to spend some time within the Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area (MPA).

This MPA boasts incredibly high biodiversity; it is home to the protected feeding grounds of African penguins and Cape gannets, as well as the highest percentage of endemic marine invertebrates and seaweeds along the whole South African coastline. If Kai didn’t linger for snacks here, he certainly did later on.

In the last week, Kai has displayed some interesting movements just off the coast of Kenton-on-Sea in the Eastern Cape. Here, there is a shallow seamount that he has clearly been using as a snack stopover – we can see his tracks going back and forth over the underwater “mountain”. Seamounts are known to increase productivity because their slopes force cold, nutrient-rich water towards the surface. These nutrients, combined with sunlight, cause phytoplankton blooms and attract a range of marine life from deep-sea corals to turtles like Kai. This means that he is most likely having a fabulous time foraging for jellies, crustaceans, and other invertebrates.

Kai is right in between the Addo Elephant National Park and Amathole MPAs, so it will be interesting to see where he goes next.

Meanwhile, green turtle Nori has continued her mission north along the West African coastline. Nori was released 203 days ago into the De Hoop MPA after nearly two years of rehabilitation for neurological issues. Since returning to the ocean in November 2025, Nori has travelled a remarkable 7 617km, averaging 37.5km per day!

Last time we checked in with Nori, we noticed that she was nearing several important nesting and feeding habitats for green turtles. She is inching closer and closer to these productive areas and is currently about 1 500km southwest of the São Tomé and Príncipe Islands. Here, she may likely encounter foraging and nesting green, hawksbill, and olive ridley turtles. The turtle populations in these areas are the focus of some inspiring conservation organisations, including the efforts of Programa Tatô and Protetuga.

Now, the team at the Turtle Conservation Centre is watching with interest to see whether Nori will make a sharp turn towards these islands or continue her journey northward along the African coastline.

As we watch Nori’s journey, we are reminded that turtles have no borders. Nori washed up in 2023 along the coast of South Africa, where an entire community of caring people invested time, effort, and love into helping her heal to the point of returning to the ocean to continue her life cycle. Now, she is a true citizen of the world, swimming through waters beyond Namibia, Angola, and St Helena, to name just a few.

To protect Nori, Kai, and other turtles like them, we need to adopt the same borderless mindset. The conservation of turtles simply cannot belong to a single country or organisation; its realisation requires us to work together as global stewards and partners in protecting our oceans. What a poignant lesson from our astonishing turtles; one that offers an exciting opportunity for us all.