Duffy’s Lucky Escape is an engaging story that will transport you to a tropical paradise where Duffy the Sea Turtle lives amongst beautiful coral reefs and colourful fish only for Duffy to learn that not all that floats is food. As time is running out Duffy has a lucky escape when kind people step in to save the day. A positive, inspiring, beautifully illustrated true story about the problem of ocean plastics with a happy ending.

Duffy’s Lucky Escape is based on true events and it is this powerful message which invites children and adults alike to question their environment and the plastic pollution within it. With suggestions for the future and links to activities which reinforce the story, Duffy’s Lucky Escape is a book which will inspire young readers to make changes to the world around them.

A 'Duffy' turtle soft toy is also available separately on our website.

Loved by children, parents and teachers around the world, Wild Tribe Heroes is the #1 children’s book series tackling important environmental issues in a positive and inspiring way. The Wild Tribe Heroes books have received personal letters of congratulations from Sir David Attenborough and King Charles who are both extremely concerned about the issue of ocean plastics and are doing everything they can to help raise awareness.

Duffy’s Lucky Escape

£7.99

Quantity

Author: Ellie Jackson

Illustrator: Liz Oldmeadow

Dimensions: 27.2 x 21 cm

Paperback

Printed sustainably in the UK from FSC approved sources.
Sadly what happened to Duffy is happening to turtles all around the world due to the increasing amounts of plastic in our oceans. Duffy was suffering from something called Floater’s Syndrome where the plastics she had eaten were stopping her from diving down under the water to eat – a bit like how armbands hold you at the surface of the water. She was stuck on the surface and was starving to death. Luckily turtles who are on the surface are more likely to be spotted by people out on boats and so are more likely to be rescued. Some towns have so many sick and injured turtles that they have built a hospital especially for turtles. One turtle hospital is called Reef HQ in Townsville, Australia and they rescue and look after lots of sick turtles every year.

The first thing they do is to build up the turtles strength before they can find out what is wrong with it. They keep each turtle separate in its own blue tank with a hosepipe providing constant clean water running over the top of the turtle. Here the turtles have to rest and are kept quiet and relaxed ready for their x-ray. The x-ray allows the vets to see if there is anything obviously wrong with the turtle. In lots of cases they see plastic caught in the turtle’s throat, stomach or intestines causing the blockage and making them feel very poorly. If the turtle is well enough the vets can operate and remove the plastic. The turtle then needs a long time to recover and build up their strength again. First they are put back in the blue tanks and eventually they will be strong enough to go into the main aquarium with the other sea creatures. Again they might be here for several months before they can be released back into their natural habitats. The whole process from the initial rescue to the release can take up to a year.
Ellie Jackson is a Cornish based bestselling environmental children’s author. As an environmental scientist who taught geography for six years, Ellie conceived her idea to use children’s books as a way of educating young people about the threat to sea life due to our dependence on plastic after she and her young family saw a turtle called Duffy being released back into the ocean after a year of treatment for ingesting plastic.