Volunteers from Nature Trust (Malta) yesterday released two turtles that have been under rehabilitation at the San Lucjan Tower for the last nine months.
The release was made in a non-public event at Gnejna Bay in the presence of Minister Hose Herrera who attended the event.
The two turtles released were:
Esther, a young Loggerhead that was found trapped between rocks out of Paradise Bay on 4 October 2015. She had a fishing hook embedded in her mouth with a mass of fishing line coming out and also a severe wound to the right front flipper which resulted in being so bad that Vet surgeon Dr A. Grupetta had to carry out a partial amputation. This was followed by months of medical treatment, by NTM Rescue team volunteers, together with feeding to bring this turtle back to health.
Sara another young loggerhead turtle was rescued on 11th December 2015 off shore near to one of the fish farms. She was malnourished and had an embedded hook and line coming out which caused much internal damage to her mouth. Following months of medical treatment and nourishment, she recovered and was realised back to the wild.
At the moment three other turtles are under rehabilitation and recovering from injuries. Nature Trust (Malta) appeals to all beach users not to leave litter such as plastic bags on beaches and in the sea. Last year a turtle was recovered with a plastic bag in its stomach which also contained stainless steel bolts. Furthermore it appeals to organisations doing public events not to release balloons as these too eventually, end up into the sea and are often the cause of cause of turtle deaths. Last year a rare young leatherback turtle died in our waters and cause of death was the ingestion of a plastic bag.
NTM also appeals to the public finding injured turtles out at sea to report to the Wildlife Rescue and not pull on any lines coming out of turtles as this often causes the damage to vital organs which result in a painful death for these animals. It is not the first time we see people trying to do good by pulling and cutting nylon lines and release these turtles which more often end up washed ashore a few days later dead.
Nature Trust wished to thank the San Lucjan Aquaculture Centre, The Environment Resources Authority, The AFM, ALE and Animal welfare for their support in the daily operation of the Rescue Team. The Emergency number for wildlife rescue is 99999505.
Nature Trust is also collecting donations towards medical costs of these injured animals including hedgehogs, bats, chameleons and all other local wildlife.