Remember Bob the turtle? Turns out Bob is actually female!

Bob the turtle before his (or should we say 'her') release. Photo: Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation

In some breaking news, the Two Oceans Aquarium has revealed that Bob the turtle, who has called the aquarium home for some time – is actually a girl!

Bob the turtle before his (or should we say ‘her’) release. Photo: Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation

Bob the turtle is a girl

If you’ve been invested in the story of Bob the turtle, much like we have, you’re in for some exciting news!

After ‘his’ successful release and 97 days of tracking out in the ocean, the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation has revealed that Bob is actually a girl.

As reported by Getaway, Two Oceans Aquarium’s content marketing coordinator, Laura du Toit, has shared some details of how they found out the sex of the famous turtle.

ALSO READ: Bob the sea turtle returns to the ocean after 8 years at Two Oceans Aquarium – PICTURES

Sex determination

Dr Bernice van Huyssteen conducting a medical check and taking a blood sample before Bob’s release. Photo: Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation

According to the Aquarium the Turtle Conservation Centre’s specialised turtle vet, Dr Bernice van Huyssteen, said that determining a turtle’s sex could be quite complex.

Dr van Huyssteen said that while most animals’ sex can be determined by taking a blood sample for a DNA test, which is a simple process and an easily accessible test, when it came to turtles, this type of testing was not enough.

“In sea turtles, the males and females are genetically the same,” Dr van Huyssteen said.

ALSO READ: Bob the turtle swims 2 000km back to Cape waters – PICTURE

Before they reach maturity, turtles’ sex organs, their ovaries and testes, look very similar on ultrasound examination

“Turtles’ sexes are determined by the temperature of the sand in which they hatch: if the eggs incubate in temperatures below 27.7°C, they will be male, while temperatures above 31°C will result in more female hatchlings. Therefore, male and female turtles’ genetics are the same. This is called temperature-dependent sex determination.” the write up explains.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Bob the sea turtle marks 2 months back in the ocean – SEE

On the day of Bob’s release, the veterinary team took blood samples from her. This was put on ice while they conducted research into sex determination and planned the tests. Dr Bernice couriered the frozen blood sample to a specialist endocrine laboratory in Pretoria, where the testosterone test was conducted.

Finally, the team compared Bob’s testosterone levels with the normal ranges for males and females, as determined in the study, and concluded that Bob was actually female!