Terry the hawksbill turtle has called the National Aquarium Of New Zealand, home since 1979. Photo / Lynda Forrest
Terry the hawksbill turtle has called the National Aquarium Of New Zealand, home since 1979. Photo / Lynda Forrest
A plan to move Napier aquarium favourite Terry the turtle into a tank where he could have some friends this summer is off, because he's territorial and likes being alone too much.
The 70cm hawksbill turtle has been a fan favourite of the National Aquarium in Napier for decades, afterbeing brought into captivity from his Fiji birthplace in 1979.
He's one of the survivors of the era when the aquarium moved to its current location on Marine Parade in 1976, and moved into his current tank when the aquarium underwent an $8 million extension and renovation in 2002.
Over the years, numerous concerns have been flagged to aquarium staff by tourists and locals around the size of Terry's tank and his solitary existence inside it.
In recent months the idea of shifting Terry into the Oceanarium for the summer had been floated by the aquarium staff, in part due to negative reviews on TripAdvisor.
In one of them, an Aucklander said Terry the turtle brought tears to his eyes.
Terry's tank at the National Aquarium in Napier has attracted criticism. Photo / RNZ
Disturbed by the "dismal and depressing place", he gave it a 1 out of 5 on TripAdvisor and typed a scathing comment. "If this is our national aquarium we should be ashamed ... The place just looked like they didn't give a toss."
National Aquarium of New Zealand general manager Rachel Haydon said the Zoo Aquarium Association of Australasia (ZAA) and the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) had both recently assessed Terry's care and habitat.
Both ZAA and MPI's assessments of the tank and care of the sea turtle came back with "no negative findings".
"This should provide assurance to any concerned individuals," Haydon said.
Terry's tank is 90,000 litres, but "as with all aquarium tanks, glass, water, and how light interacts with the water and glass can distort how the space appears", Haydon said.
A common public concern was that Terry "looked lonely" in his tank with no fish friends, but Haydon said unlike humans, Terry could enjoy managed isolation as large male hawksbill turtles were naturally solitary and territorial.
The National Aquarium spokesperson said it had looked very closely at temporarily moving him into the Pania tank or Oceanarium during the warm summer period.
After considering Terry's overall welfare, such as nutrition, environment, health and behaviour, "it was not clear that moving him would be beneficial".
The aquarium now has "no immediate plan to move Terry, as it could come with some risks" to his physical and mental welfare, Haydon said.
Another issue with moving Terry to the Oceanarium was that the water is pumped in from the sea, making the Oceanarium temperature similar to the seasonal temperatures of the local area.
The temperature was ideal for the native sea life that currently inhabits that exhibit and because of this, the temperatures cannot be increased "as it would be detrimental to their health".
This would mean that the temperature would be unsuitable for Terry for about 7-8 months of the year.
Haydon said the decision to move him may or may not change as more information becomes available.
Terry's exact age is unknown, but he could have many summers ahead of him yet.
The life expectancy of hawksbill turtles in the wild is 50-60 years, but in captivity it is expected to be longer than in the wild, where they face multiple threats to their survival.
