A group of jet skiers was enjoying a day on the water just off the coast of Magnetic Island in Australia’s West Point when they stumbled across a green sea turtle in dire straits.
Andrew Eslick of Magnetic Island Jetskis was leading the tour and initially thought the sea creature was just enjoying the sun. But as he got closer, worry crept in.
“We get closer to it and I think, ‘Oh no, this turtle’s not moving. I think I’m about to show everyone a dead turtle,’” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Fortunately, when Eslick reached out to pat the turtle on its head, it opened its eyes. But it was clear the animal was “unhealthy and weak.”
“Her shell started having little bloody patches all over it where her shell had become soft and started to peel off like wet paper,” he described to the ABC.
Princess Peach on the beach. Photo courtesy of Magnetic Island Jetskis
The tour group insisted on helping, cutting their tour short to save the turtle.
“The tour collectively made the decision that we’d rather help than continue on,” Eslick wrote on Facebook.
With the help of a nearby lifeguard, the turtle, which was estimated to be over 220 pounds (or 100 kilograms), was strapped to a board and brought back to Horseshoe Bay.
Once they got back to the island, experts at the Magnetic Island Network for Turtles rehabilitation center were standing by, ready to intervene.
“She was whisked off to the vets,” Eslick concluded on Facebook, “and hopefully she makes a full recovery.”
Eslick’s son named the new friend. Photo courtesy of Magnetic Island Jetskis
Eslick’s three-year-old son dubbed the turtle “Princess Peach,” and MINT kept the name. Now, she’s in the care of veterinarians, who estimate she is anywhere between 50 and 80 years old.
Aside from her infectious lesions, Princess Peach is deemed to be a healthy turtle.
“We’re actually still trying to find out what the causative agent of her infection is, but she is healing well in care,” Lily Donnelly, the rehabilitation clinic coordinator at MINT, told the ABC.
MINT has created a GoFundMe to help subsidize her care.
Princess Peach hitches a ride to the rehab center. Photo courtesy of Magnetic Island Jetskis
“Being such a big turtle … her food costs will match, plus her ongoing medical costs,” the fundraiser reads. “Your donation will go directly to helping get Peach back in the ocean where she belongs.”
Donnelly said it could be less than 12 weeks before Peach returns to the ocean, but that once she is healed, she’ll be tagged for future monitoring.
“All turtles under Queensland government regulations are tagged,” she told the ABC. “If you’re ever out snorkelling and you see a turtle with a tag, take a photo, and it might come from one of our rehab groups.”
Green sea turtles, like Peach, were listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List from 1982 until 2025 and are now hailed as a conservation success story. But keeping the population protected requires the work of expert veterinarians — and everyday people like Eslick’s jet ski tour group.
“That’s what we’re all about on the island,” Eslick told the ABC of his customers, “making sure we look after the water and look after our animals in this area.”
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Header image courtesy of Magnetic Island Jetskis
