Lori CarnochanBBC Scotland News
Casey Lammie
The turtle was found near to Southerness Golf Club in the south of Scotland
A giant sea turtle has been found by a walker on the beach next to Southerness Golf Club on the Solway Coast.
Valerie Smith Lang came across the reptile on Thursday evening after it had been washed up and was lying next to a beached buoy.
Initially, she thought it was dead but found it was “just in shock”.
“I called the SSPCA and took it back to my garden to keep it safe whilst I waited on them coming,” she said.
“Following their advice, I wrapped it in a towel soaked in sea water to keep it hydrated and it then started moving.”
Casey Lammie
Loggerhead turtles are the largest hard-shell turtles in the world
The SSPCA arrived within an hour and told Ms Smith Lang that it was the third loggerhead turtle to be found within one week, and they believed that they may have been swept off track from Portugal.
Loggerheads are the largest hard-shelled turtles in the world, growing to between one and two metres in length (3ft to 6ft) and weighing up to 450kg (1,000lbs).
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), they are the most common turtle in the Mediterranean, nesting on beaches from Greece and Turkey to Israel and Libya.
They are better suited to warmer waters and can experience cold-stunning when they enter a patch of water where the temperature rapidly drops.
It can cause them to enter a stage similar to hibernation, causing them to be washed ashore.
They are a vulnerable species, says the WWF, with many of their nesting beaches under threat from tourism development.
The turtle was taken to Fife where it will be rehabilitated for up to one year, before being released back into the sea.
What to do if you find a stranded turtle
Advice from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) if you do find a stranded turtle, is not to put it back into the sea.
Instead, wrap the turtle in a damp towel and set it on its belly somewhere safe and sheltered, raising its back end slightly to allow any water to drain from its lungs.
If you need to move the turtle, don’t pull on its flippers, pull on the shell instead.
Be sure to report the sighting as soon as possible to experts like the MCS or SSPCA so that the turtle can be taken to a specialist facility where it can be treated by trained vets.