Addu City, Maldives – Addu Dive, a local dive center in Addu City, has rescued a severely injured Olive Ridley turtle yesterday.
The dive team, in a Facebook post published regarding the rescue, said that the turtle’s two front fins were badly damaged and that when the team realised that the turtle was struggling to dive and swim, they jumped into the water and rescued it.
The team has since dispatched the turtle to the Marine Saver’s Center located in Four Seasons Kuda Huraa of North Malé atoll.
The dive center’s Facebook post ended with an important general information piece to the public, explaining that Olive Ridleys are an important species and that they spend much of their time foraging in the open ocean, making them vulnerable to being captured as bycatch, ingestion of marine debris and entanglement in discarded fishing lines and nets known as “ghost nets”.
The Marine Saver’s Center in Four Seasons works under the Reefscapers to rehabilitate turtles. Marine Savers also has a center in Landaa Giraavaru in Baa Atoll.
