Let's honour Yoshi's epic journey by helping the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation to create the next generation of ocean champions. Help us reach our goal of providing world-class environmental education for 35 000 South African children OR to rescue, rehabilitate and release 350 stranded turtles - your contribution will mean the world to us, and to Yoshi.
Did you know?
- With a donation of R3 500, the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation can host 35 children for a curriculum-aligned lesson right here at the Two Oceans Aquarium.
- To rescue, rehabilitate and release a stranded turtle costs the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation R4 600 per turtle. To date, we have released more than 557 healthy turtles back into the wild!
- With a donation of R35 000, our environmental outreach programmes can reach 1 000 children in under-resourced areas.
- R350 ensures that 10 ocean-themed Puppet Stories activity books make their way to nursery schools and other early childhood development organisations in need.
Inspiring each other to save the ocean
Please join in and share the #YoshiChallenge to give thousands of South African children the opportunity to connect to the environment, and to help rehabilitate and release stranded turtles. There is so much we can do if we all make one small difference, together. Let's get the #YoshiChallenge to travel as far as Yoshi has!
Yoshi's story
The size of a dinner plate when she first arrived at the Two Oceans Aquarium (Cape Town, South Africa) in 1997, Yoshi weighed 183kg and measured 107cm long and 89cm across on the day she was released, south of Cape Town, on 15 December 2017.
Now, two years and 35 000km later, Yoshi is beating records and blowing minds. If the journey between her Angolan feeding grounds (which she visited in 2018) and her nesting site, which we currently think may be on Australia's northern coast, proves to be her natural migration path, then this could be the longest migration journey undertaken by any sea animal ever recorded - longer than the current record holders: humpback whales, great white sharks and leatherback turtles.
Yoshi's 35 000km journey through South Africa, Angola, and Australia's waters is incredible, but her journey almost ended 20 years ago when she encountered humans for the first time. Yoshi got lucky and was rescued, but most other turtles encountering human-made hazards don't get a second chance.
Click here to learn more about Yoshi's incredible journey.
About the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation
The Two Oceans Aquarium has a 25-year legacy of inspiring care and passion for ocean conservation, and has established itself as a leader in environmental education, wildlife conservation and research, and marine sciences training.
By establishing the registered non-profit public benefit organisation, Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, in 2018, this iconic Cape Town attraction has now taken its next steps to fulfil its mission of inspiring action for the future well-being of the ocean. The Education Foundation aims to achieve this outcome through far-reaching and inclusive education programmes, rigorous research practices, and dedicated conservation projects – such as rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing sea turtles like Yoshi.
Please contact us on foundation@aquarium.co.za with any comments or suggestions.
All donations are tax-deductible under Section 18a.
