what have we got here then, gerhard?turtle rehabilitation programme. the programme was formed in 200a. and since inception we have released 1576 turtles back into the ocean. but to get them to that stage is a long and lengthy process and this is where they start. that sounds like an enormous amount of turtles that you have released. why are the turtles here? well, the turtles generally come to us they either because they're injured or because they are sick in some way. so the bulk of the turtles coming to us are either from impact injuries, so they'll be turtles that were stuck behind a boat propeller, causing cracks to their carapace, cold stunning events, totals are reptiles, so especially the smaller ones, when they get too cold they get lethargic, strong winds and they get washed up on the shore. another reason is when they ingest plastic — that leads to infection. plastic is a huge problem. i just felt its flipper touch me. it's quite soft. i've been told that it's ok to handle the turtles so long as you're really s