Pilbara couple answers Facebook call to transport injured green sea turtle from Port Hedland to Broome
Emily and Callum volunteered to take the turtle on their six-hour drive to Broome. (Supplied: Native Animal Rescue Broome)
A standard six-hour road trip in Western Australia's north took a strange turn when Emily Pledger came across a unique post on her community's Facebook page.
"Is there anyone going to Broome in the next few days and would like a slippery companion?" the post read.
The slippery companion in question was a small green sea turtle — found in waters near Port Hedland, about 1,600km north of Perth, and in need of urgent care.
The male turtle was taken to the local vet clinic on suspicion of "floater syndrome" when a turtle will develop internal gases preventing them from diving under the water and finding food.
Carers also noted the animal had a hole in its back flipper showing signs of possible infection.
The turtle needed to be taken to the Broome Native Animal Rescue Centre, which provides treatment to wildlife found in the Kimberley and Pilbara.
Typically, turtles are transported from the Pilbara to the Broome via air. However this was not an option due to a lack of available flights.
So the vet called on the community for help, asking anyone if they had space in their car for the 600km trip.
Loading...Emily Pledger did not even have to think before offering her vehicle, despite never doing anything like it before.
"It wasn't really a question in my mind," she said.
"I just thought, we may as well help out — I enjoy doing little things like that.
"Not your everyday travel buddy."
They soon gave him an affectionate name — Squirt — after the young turtle in Finding Nemo.
"He didn't talk back to us much, but he was a good travel companion," she laughed.
"I think he knew in a way that we were helping him, so he was happy."
On arriving in Broome, Squirt was handed over to the Native Animal Rescue Centre.
"It was really exciting when we got to Broome because you could see him really liven up when we put him in the pool," Ms Pledger said.
Squirt was washed and treated to a freshwater bath when he arrived in Broome. (Supplied: Native Animal Rescue Broome)
"It's definitely a story we'll be talking about for a while."
Turtles regularly travelling to Broome for treatment
Broome Native Animal Rescue coordinator Chris Mitchell said they would aim to rehabilitate and release the turtle once it was fully healed.
"We'll treat it with antibiotics over a period of time, and hopefully it'll recover fully," he said.
Once recovered, Squirt is set to be flown back to Port Hedland, where he'll be released back into the ocean.
Mr Mitchell, also Broome Shire's president, said turtles being sent to Broome from the Pilbara was a fairly regular occurrence.
"We've been treating marine turtles since July 2018, and since that time we've probably rescued about 120-plus adult and sub-adult turtles," he said.
Coordinator of Broome Native Animal Rescue Chris Mitchell is glad to see community members helping out. (ABC Kimberley: Andy Seabourne)
The animals were normally flown north, but sometimes the urgency of medical care meant it was necessary to get the community's help.
"If someone's driving up, we can get them up quicker than waiting three to five hours if there's a flight available," Mr Mitchell said.
"The sooner they get into care, the sooner we can treat them."
Mr Mitchell said it was encouraging to see how individual members of the community would give up their time to help out an animal in need.