It is always satisfying to see animals which have been injured by humans – whether directly or indirectly – released back into the wild.
Yesterday saw the release of turtles back into the sea, with some of them having spent years in rehabilitation. The injuries they suffer as a consequence of human activity are diverse and range from ingestion of plastic bags (they look like turtle food – jellyfish), fishing hooks getting caught in their fins, mouth and face and even rope getting tangled round their flippers and fins, which are often amputated.
Yes, it’s all very sad. Thankfully, the days when sea turtles themselves were hunted are gone. These gentle, sometimes ancient animals, will unfortunately keep getting hurt. They also get tangled in nets and sometimes drown.
Only the banning of fishing hooks, banning plastic bags completely, drift nets, nylon rope and wire will stop them getting injured, but we must be realistic. We cannot simply ban traditional fishing methods and we must also remember that the huge amount of debris that we have put into the sea is going to be around for many years to come. So even if we did immediately eliminate anything that poses a threat to turtles, there will still be injuries.
The key is education and rehabilitation. A couple of years back; the Resources and Infrastructure Ministry issued pamphlets and organised lectures to help fishermen avoid injuring turtles. We are sure that it did not eliminate the chance of injuries to the animals, but we are sure that it had a positive effect. Education is a powerful tool and it was very encouraging to see children from Ecoskola holding up placards to tell people not to dump plastic bags into the sea as it harms the turtles (reasons explained earlier).
A total of 11 were released back into the sea yesterday, one of which was only a baby that was unable to feed or care for itself when it was taken to St Lucjan. It is now 50 kilos in weight and has hopefully found a sea current to take it on its merry way.
Malta has been found wanting in many areas related to attitudes towards animals, whether they are wild, or whether they are domestic. But at least, exercises such as this show that we are facing up to our responsibilities in at least one small way.
For anyone that has not witnessed such releases, you might want to. It is a very intimate moment. First the cumbersome beasts are lifted out of containers in slings and they are set down on the sand and given a wash down to cool off.
Immediately, instinct kicks in as the beasts feel the sand and smell the sea. They literally start bucking and you can hear them bellow in anticipation to get back into the sea.
Some are large and some are small, but once they are all released, it is like watching a documentary on television – only you feel it, as well as watch it. The Ministry and the San Lucjan Tower staff really deserve the plaudits for this exercise and we hope that they will continue to educate fishermen and children alike. Everything in this world has a place, especially when we consider that turtles eat the jellyfish which we hate so much.
It should not be done with that aim only in mind, we are literally talking about a token gesture to put right the wrongs we have done, whether intentional or by accident.