Vietnam mourning death of ancient turtle

Vietnam has lost a national treasure with the death of 120-year-old turtle Cu Rua or 'The Grandfather'.

Conservation workers watching the turtle named Cu Rua swimming after it was captured at Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2013. The death of the popular turtle in Hanoi led to a national outpouring of sentiment. Source: AAP

A loved and ancient Vietnamese turtle has died, and left behind it a nation in mourning.

Cu Rua - thought to be one of a handful of Yangtze giant softshell turtles alive - was found floating in a lake in Hanoi.

It is a national tragedy for Vietnam, with an announcement from authorities that Cu Rua ("The Grandfather") would be embalmed, BBC reports.

The turtle is thought to have lived for 120 years, but some in Vietnamese believe Cu Rua was closer to 700 years old.

Despite the grandfather title, Cu Rua was a female turtle.

BBC also reported Vietnamese authorities at one point tried to censor the news about Cu Rua's death. The censorship attempt and death of Cu Rua timed with the Vietnamese government's five-yearly meeting taking place this week.

Cu Rua's death is seen as an omen for the Vietnamese government - one of a handful of communist governments left - with a change of party leader expected at the meeting.

Victorian turtle lives to swim another day

It's not all bad news for turtle lovers.

A Victorian sea turtle found beached and close to death more than two years ago has returned to the wild.

Melbourne Aquarium, which took on the task of nursing loggerhead sea turtle Blair back to health, announced on Thursday the turtle was back in open waters.

Blair was dehydrated, exhausted and a mere four kilograms when found at Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula in December 2013.

A supplied image of loggerhead sea turtle Blair and Melbourne Aquarium staff ahead of Blair's release into open waters off Gabo Island, Victoria, on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Source: AAP

But she was now a shell-busting 25kg when released on Tuesday at Gabo Island, off the Gippsland coast near the NSW border.

"Thanks to this special program, a rich diet and lots of love and care she is well prepared for any threats she may face in the wild," aquarium exhibit manager Tereza Todd said on Thursday.

Ms Todd said the island's proximity to the East Australian Current allowed Blair the option to head north or stay in Victoria's cooler waters.

Rehabilitating Blair was a key project for aquarium staff because she forms part of the critically endangered South Pacific population of loggerhead sea turtles.

The proud staff will now monitor Blair's progress from afar via a GPS tracking tag.

The data will also be available at this website.