Lettuce crisis hits those who love it most: hungry British sea turtles

Green sea turtles can get through 3kg of iceberg lettuce and 3kg of broccoli stems in a single week

Ascension Island is home to one of the world's biggest populations of green turtles, an endangered species (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

The UK’s vegetable crisis has not only gripped the country’s supermarkets and healthy eaters, but also a bale of 12 hungry green sea turtles in aquariums across the country.

Eight aquariums run by the company Sea Life are calling on visitors to spare lettuce or broccoli for their shelled inhabitants who, as a result of a shortage of some vegetables in the UK, are missing out on their favourite meals.

“The green turtles live up to their name with their passion for greens,” Dan McLaughlan, an aquarium curator, said.

He said that lettuce and broccoli, along with sprouts and cauliflower, are their preferred vegetables.

“They don’t mind a bit of kale or rocket now and again,” he said, but a squeeze on the supply of lettuce and broccoli means that feeding times are taking much longer because the turtles “ignore other offerings until they are quite sure the good stuff isn’t on the menu”.

According to a press release issued by Merlin Entertainments, which owns Sea Life Centres, one green sea turtle – a teenager named Ernie who is living in Manchester– can get through 3kg of iceberg lettuce, 7kg of cucumber and 3kg of broccoli stems in a single week.

Donations from the public “will make all the difference” to keep the creatures fed, Merlin said.

The UK’s vegetable crisis, which started in early January when retailers reported a courgette shortage due to poor weather conditions in Southern Europe, has drawn on for several weeks now, affecting the availability of aubergines, lettuces, broccoli, salad peppers and cabbage.

Some supermarkets have introduced quotas and Tesco implemented a three-lettuce limit for customers.

“We normally buy by the crate load,” said Mr McLaughlan, “but not all ordinary shoppers are going to take kindly to the rules being bent for hungry sea turtles, so we are hoping the good will of our visitors and other real animal lovers will see us through this shortage.”

Data from the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week already showed that market prices for some of the products affected by the squeeze had been inching higher.

And some UK consumers have even been turning to growing their own greens in an attempt to keep their kitchens stocked, according to home and garden retailer Wilko.

IAG Cargo, the cargo division of International Airlines Group, which is the parent company of British Airways, said on Thursday that it had witnessed an influx in demand for routes where iceberg lettuces are grown beyond Southern Europe, particularly the West Coast of America.