This little Olive Ridley
turtle was found in one of our lagoons yesterday, entangled in a discarded
fishing net. Olive Ridley turtles are quite rare in the Maldives, however,
large numbers of them, are often found entangled in fishing nets. These nets,
also known as 'Ghost nets' have been discarded, abandoned or lost in the ocean.
They will continue fishing unless they are actively removed from the oceans,
affecting not just turtles but all sorts of marine animals...
Net fishing is actually illegal
in the Maldives (except for catching tiny bait fish which is used to catch
tuna). Most fish are caught using a pole and line method. Therefore, it is
most likely that the turtles become caught in these ghost nets in the open
Indian ocean, and then drift into the shallow waters of the atolls. Entanglement
often leads to the turtles losing limbs and also developing buoyancy problems
meaning they cannot dive. This can be a problem as if they are floating on the
surface they are more susceptible to dehydration and can also be hit by a
passing boat! The incriminating nets generally originate from Sri Lanka or
India. Any information regarding these nets (eg: their origin) is used by a group of Marine
Biologists situated within the Maldives who are working towards preventing entanglement
of Olive Ridley’s. You can check out more information on their website
www.oliveridleyproject.com
Luckily this little guy was
spotted by one of our guests and could be cut free. It was released back into
the wild without any injuries. Some good news for the start of 2014...!
 |
| Hang on in there little guy!! |
 |
| Luckily the flippers were not injured. Sometimes they are so badly damaged from the net that they have to be amputated! |
 |
| Ready to be released back into the ocean. Hopefully untraumatised!! |
 |
| The guilty net in question. Looks big but in the grand scheme of things this is just a small one |
