Dozens of turtles had their shell suits spring cleaned yesterday – to get them ready to become conservation ambassadors.
The Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary near Oban is hosting a four-day Turtle-fest to raise awareness of the threats to their survival and encourage support for efforts to protect them.
The sanctuary has hosted a special refuge for abandoned and illegally imported freshwater turtles since 2011.
The assorted residents live in specially designed heated displays.
Aquarist Farrah Minchin said: “They all gradually acquire a crusty coating of algae on their carapaces.
“Left for too long it can lead to shell damage so we spent a good couple of hours with water and toothbrushes giving them all a good scrub.”
Lining up for their bi-annual deep clean were John, Paul, George and Ringo – four Mississippi map turtles rehomed at the sanctuary after being found abandoned in a bucket in West Lothian two years ago.
Another dozen or more of the same species confiscated by HM Customs officers when they arrived in the UK without the proper paperwork were also be given a brush up.
A more careful approach will be taken with the huge and potentially dangerous snapping turtle named Oddjob, after the villain from the James Bond series.
Other species enjoying the spruce-up will include an Australian snake-necked turtle called Miss Moneypenny and yellow-bellied terrapins.
Ms Minchin added: “Many are endangered in the wild due to habitat loss, and in some cases to being over collected for the pet trade, something which the Teenage Ninja Turtle craze made a lot worse.”
Turtle-fest runs from Friday, February 13 to Monday, February 16 and features talks about each of the freshwater residents, a turtle themed quiz trail and competitions.
To highlight the danger posed by plastic bags to sea turtles, the sanctuary will offer free bags for life in exchange for 100 plastic shopping bags which will be safely recycled to ensure they don’t end up in the sea.
Many sea turtles mistake floating plastic bags for tasty jellyfish, and end up with their intestines blocked and doomed to a slow and painful death.