{"id":469072,"date":"2026-02-14T23:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/469072\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T23:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:30:08","slug":"airline-welcomes-vip-endangered-turtle-who-needed-hospital-after-it-was-blown-off-course-by-powerful-winter-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/469072\/","title":{"rendered":"Airline Welcomes VIP Endangered Turtle Who Needed Hospital After it was Blown Off Course By Powerful Winter Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-229584\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Crush-the-sea-turtle-gets-ticket-on-Loganair-to-reach-sanctuary-SWNS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"750\"\/>Crush the sea turtle gets ticket on Loganair to reach sanctuary \u2013 SWNS<\/p>\n<p>On 9 January, large parts of Europe were brought to a standstill as Storm Goretti, a powerful winter cyclone with 110 mph winds, swept into the region from the south.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after, a beachcomber found a young loggerhead turtle washed up on the Island of Jersey near the coast of France after being blown hundreds of miles off course.<\/p>\n<p>The warm-water reptile was \u201ccold stunned\u201d\u2014an immobile condition caused by prolonged exposure to cold water\u2014and quickly brought to a local animal hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Veterinarian Peter Haworth at New Era Hospital <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vettimes.com\/news\/vet-nursing\/exotic-vet-nursing\/vets-to-the-rescue-for-teenage-cold-stunned-injured-turtle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">was able to stabilize<\/a> the weak and malnourished sea turtle in a small tank\u2014thanks to warmed seawater provided by The Jersey Oyster Company, but the juvenile turtle needed more space.<\/p>\n<p>A rough voyage across the English Channel to Britain by boat could have caused undue stress for the endangered species, so Peter contacted \u2018the friendly skies\u2019 for help getting the rescued turtle a VIP airline ticket.<\/p>\n<p>Named Crush, after the character in Finding Nemo, the sea turtle finally received permission from Loganair to fly as a First Class passenger on a scheduled flight to Southampton, England, where it was picked up and driven 90 miles to its long-term care facility, the SeaLife Centre in Weymouth.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-229585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Crush-the-loggerhead-turtle-closeup-SWNS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"775\"\/>Crush the loggerhead turtle \u2013 SWNS<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was certainly one of the more unusual passengers we\u2019ve welcomed on board,\u201d said Ronnie Matheson, chief commercial officer at Loganair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur teams worked closely with Peter and his colleagues to ensure that she could travel as calmly and comfortably as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MORE GOOD TURTLE NEWS:<br \/>\u2022 <a title=\"Sea Turtles Rebounding Worldwide as Nests and Habitat are More Protected, Says 2025 NOAA Study\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goodnewsnetwork.org\/sea-turtles-rebounding-worldwide-as-nests-and-habitat-are-being-protected-says-2025-noaa-study\/\" rel=\"bookmark nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sea Turtles Rebounding Worldwide as Nests and Habitat are More Protected in 2025<\/a><br \/>\u2022\u00a0<a title=\"Lovelorn Tortoise Found a Year After it Escaped in Search of a Mate at 0.00012mph\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goodnewsnetwork.org\/lovelorn-tortoise-found-a-year-after-it-escaped-in-search-of-a-mate-at-0-00012mph\/\" rel=\"bookmark nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lovelorn Tortoise Found a Year After it Escaped in Search of a Mate at 0.00012mph<\/a><br \/>\u2022 <a title=\"Saved from a Predator\u2019s Jaws, Amputee Turtle Released Back into the Wild with Important Mission \u2013 (WATCH)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goodnewsnetwork.org\/saved-from-a-predators-jaws-amputee-turtle-released-back-into-the-wild-with-fanfare-watch\/\" rel=\"bookmark nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Saved from a Predator\u2019s Jaws, Amputee Turtle Released Back into the Wild with Important Mission \u2013 (WATCH)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dan Townsend, head of airside operations at Southampton Airport, said: \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to support this special journey and play a small part in helping this young turtle get the expert care it needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur teams work closely with airline partners like Loganair to make sure unique animal movements like this one are handled safely and smoothly, and we\u2019re proud to help facilitate its onward recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CT scans at the Jersey hospital identified a higher than usual amount of sand inside her oesophagus, but some of it was removed to prevent any future blockage\u2014and the SeaLife Centre hopes to release her back into loggerhead habitat range this spring.<\/p>\n<p>SHARE THE INSPIRING RESCUE With Turtle-Lovers on Social Media\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crush the sea turtle gets ticket on Loganair to reach sanctuary \u2013 SWNS On 9 January, large parts&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[4324,7676,2027,20267,17532,42797,79,2986,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-469072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-airlines","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-endangered-species","11":"tag-found","12":"tag-reptiles","13":"tag-rescue-stories","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-weather","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}