Extreme athlete and conservationist Karoline Hanks has raised over R70 000 for the Two Oceans Aquarium Education Foundation’s turtle rehabilitation programme, to buy what she describes as the “Rolls-Royce of tracking devices” for Bob, the turtle.
The 50-year-old Noordhoek resident completed the gruelling 13 Peaks Challenge run twice in one go, finishing the debilitating 212km distance in 71 hours 16 minutes. Hanks is the first person to achieve this feat.
Hanks described her record-breaking journey, which stretched through the Cape Peninsula, as exhilarating and painful.
“There was a lot of pain in the course of the run. What kept me going was the realisation that my pain was nothing compared to what so many ocean creatures feel when they either get entangled or ingest some of the plastic that we produce. However, it was well worth it,” she said.
Hanks said that the funds, which were handed over to the aquarium on Monday, will go directly to buying the very best tracking unit for Bob, which will be attached to his back.
“The tracker will last for three years, and in that time, it will gather important data and information, following his journey and establishing where he was born because they do tend to gravitate back,” she said.
As a conservationist, Hanks says what drew her to Bob is that he is a survivor of plastic ingestion.
“I have tried to put it out there that we are in a crisis when it comes to ocean plastic. What is devastating is that as individuals in South Africa, we produce 2kgs of waste per person per day, which is really excessive. And so much of that is single-use plastic or packaging plastic, which ultimately leaks out into the natural environment, particularly the ocean.
“Sixty percent of the hatchlings brought to the aquarium have ingested microplastics, which is devastating. The Two Oceans team see this all the time - turtles coming in either after being entangled in ghost fishing gear or having ingested plastic, which can be fatal.
“The message that needs to be put out there is that we all have to change our habits, all of us. By not taking that shopping bag at the till, and saying no to the straw. It’s refusing to buy stuff that is heavily packaged, it’s rattling the cages of big corporates and demanding change in our supermarkets. If each of us does something, then it will help.”
Hanks says that Bob’s rehabilitation process has been going exceptionally well, and he will be released into the ocean sometime this year.
IOL