More than 200 people gathered on Rangiputa Beach on March 27 to farewell Nebs, a juvenile green sea turtle which had a two-year rehabilitation at Kelly Tarlton's after being caught by accident by a fisherman in Auckland.
If Nebs the green turtle could talk he'd have quite a tale to tell his hatchlings one day.
He'd tell them about his misadventures in faraway Northland, how he was rescued and put into turtle rehab not once but twice, how a satellite transmitter was glued to his shell, andhow he was released back into his ocean home while hundreds of humans cheered from the beach.
Nebs regained his freedom at noon yesterdayat Rangiputa Beach, on the Karikari Peninsula, when he was carried into the shallows by students from Taipa Area School.
Taipa Area School students Daejah Murray, 16, and Anthony Duval, 13, carry Nebs into the shallows while Kelly Tarlton's aquarists Harry Josephson-Rutter, left, and Joshua Fretwell look on.
The unlucky Nebs first stranded at Muriwai, West Auckland, in 2011. He received emergency treatment at Auckland Zoo and was rehabilitated at Kelly Tarlton's before being released off Cape Brett in 2013. He swam around Cape Reinga before his transmitter failed in 2014, reappearing in Auckland's Manukau Harbour when he was hooked by fisherman in 2015.
Yesterday's release, which was watched by more than 200 people, including a local preschool and students from Taipa Area School, marked the end of Nebs' second spell in rehab.
Dan Godoy, a Massey University marine scientist, said the juvenile turtle, which weighed about 23kg and measured 55cm along its shell, was ''looking really good''.
''It didn't speed off, it just cruised and took plenty of breaths.''
Nebs the green turtle makes a break for freedom at Rangiputa Beach as hundreds of schoolchildren and locals watch. PHOTO / Peter de Graaf
Nebs was followed by a drone as he hung around for a few minutes 100m offshore then propelled himself into deeper water.
Dr Godoy said Nebs would be tracked for about a year as part of a project looking into post-release dispersal and survival of marine turtles.
Yesterday also marked the launch of Dr Godoy's new project, Flying High to Sea Below, which taught children to use drones in marine applications such as mapping habitats and looking for turtles.
So far schools at Te Hapua, Ngataki, Kaitaia and Taipa were involved. The project was based in the Far North because it was an ''awesome community'' right behind turtle rescues and research.
Nebs heads for deeper water. PHOTO / Peter de Graaf
Senior ranger Shayne Storey, of the Department of Conservation's Kaitaia office, said it was fantastic to see so many children learning about turtles and how important it was to keep plastic out of the ocean.
About a third of turtles that stranded had ingested plastic, she said. Typically six turtles stranded in New Zealand each year, mostly on Ninety Mile Beach. Last year the number was 13.
She urged anyone who found a turtle on the beach to call 0800 DOC HOT straight away and not to try pushing it back out to sea. While sea turtles spent part of their life cycle in New Zealand waters they only ended up on land if they were unwell.
Massey University marine researcher Dan Godoy watches as AUT associate professor Barbara Bollard and drone engineer Ashray Doshi follow Nebs on a drone-mounted camera.
Dr Godoy's school project is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Curious Minds programme, which encourages young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
It is run in conjunction with AUT which operates the drones.
