Sea Life Kelly Tarlton's Auckland to launch New Zealand's first interactive turtle rehabilitation experience

Auckland, Wednesday 22 November 2017 – Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s Auckland, has today announced that from 11 December, New Zealanders can experience the country’s first interactive turtle rehabilitation experience, Turtle Rescue.

Turtle Rescue is an all-new interactive experience at the world-class attraction. Guests of all ages are encouraged to become a turtle care expert as they embark on a journey to understand what is involved in successfully rehabilitating a turtle. Through digital technology, Turtle Rescue will turn guests into bonafide turtle rescuers, allowing them to rehabilitate and release their own digital turtle back into the wild, into the virtual waters around New Zealand.

Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s Auckland, General Manager, Daniel Henderson, said the new experience aims to educate Kiwis on rescuing and rehabilitating turtles - something that is synonymous with the attraction, which has rescued over 100 turtles over 20 years.

“The inspiration behind Turtle Rescue was to create an experience which not only educated the public on the journey behind turtle rehabilitation, but was also hands-on so people of all ages could go through the journey with us. The experience emulates the dedication and hard-work carried out by our talented team in our back of house turtle rehabilitation centre,” said Mr Henderson.

“We’re excited to launch the country’s first interactive turtle rescue experience and for locals and internationals to learn about turtles, the threats they face in the wild and also follow the journeys of the turtles we have successfully rescued, rehabilitated and released over the years.”

The Turtle Rescue experience is the first of its kind in New Zealand and profiles real-life turtle rescues that the dedicated Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s team has been involved in. The team has over 20 years’ experience in rescuing and rehabilitating a range of endangered or near extinct sea turtles in New Zealand.

Of the seven marine turtle species, 5 are found in New Zealand waters and all of them are endangered or critically endangered. Education experiences like Turtle Rescue play a vital role in helping preserve the future of the species, so the public can be more conscious of their behaviour in and around the water and how it affects marine life. Turtle Rescue also aims to educate Kiwis on the important story around what type of turtles inhabit our coastlines, why and how they got here and where the turtles go once they are released.

Opening just in time for Christmas on 11 December, Turtle Rescue is New Zealand’s first and only interactive turtle rehabilitation experience at Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s. For more information, please head to: https://www.kellytarltons.co.nz/

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