AN AQUARIUM is in mourning after one of its oldest residents passed away.

Brighton Sea Life Centre have bid farewell to Jersey the loggerhead sea turtle.

She was named after the Channel Island after which she was found washed up on the beach there in 1950.

Jersey had been at the centre for 12 years but had suffered a sudden decline in health and a scan revealed a mass in her intestines which proved to be inoperable.

General manager Max Leviston said: “Jersey was a gentle giant who had quietly captured the hearts of everyone who ever worked with her.

“Along with green turtles Lulu and Gulliver she became more like a member of the family than an animal on display, and she will be sorely missed by us all.”

Jersey was probably born on an Atlantic beach in southern US or Mexico, and she was around two-years-old old when she was discovered.