Sea turtle released after second round of rehabilitation at Aquarium
Kia Ora Neighbors,
Connie the green sea turtle has been released back into the ocean after her second round of rehabilitation by the team at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium’s Turtle Rehabilitation Centre.
Connie was originally rescued in December 2018, stranded in Henderson Bay weighing just 18kg. After this first rescue and rehabilitation by the SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s team, Connie was released at Poor Knights Island Marine Reserve in March 2019.
Almost two years later, in November 2020, Connie was found stranded yet again, this time just 9km from where she was originally found. After this second rescue, Connie has stayed in the care of the Turtle Rehabilitation team for the past 16 months.
When Connie was rescued in November 2020, she was found to have problems with her digestion, likely caused by the ingestion of non-edible particles such as plastic. Connie was also suffering from chronic pneumonia, which can be a common illness seen in sea turtles during the cold winter months.
After initial tests and treatments by the veterinary team at Auckland Zoo, Connie was transferred to SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s to spend time in New Zealand’s only rescue turtle rehabilitation facility. Connie was tube fed by the team daily in order to gain strength, and once Connie had fought off the pneumonia and her digestive system was cleared, the team focused on seeing Connie gain some much needed weight and building her physical strength swimming with the other turtles in care.
While undergoing treatment, Connie has proven herself to be a very active sea turtle – a strong swimmer with great buoyancy and a hearty appetite. At the time of her release last week, Connie weighed a very healthy 45kg!
“It's always a bittersweet feeling when we release turtles back into the wild as we spend so much time and hard work rehabilitating them and developing feelings for them. However, we have no doubt Connie is in the absolute best condition to survive in the wild and we are all so happy she gets this second chance at life!” said Jessica Van De Pas, Aquarist at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium.
SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s is home to New Zealand’s only Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, which has rehabilitated and released over 50 sea turtles over the past 23 years. SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s is also home to magnificent sand tiger sharks, New Zealand’s only colony of Sub-Antarctic penguins, hundreds of different fish species, and many more marine creatures.
Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
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Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.2% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.8% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
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