Dubai: An endangered sea turtle was rescued in Abu Dhabi yesterday after being spotted by an eagle-eyed member of staff at a petrol station in Musaffah.
The giant green sea turtle, weighing over 100kg, was found in a distressed state and transferred to Ghantoot Nature Reserve and then the Turtle Rehabilitation Unit in Dubai.
Major Ali Al Suwaidi, founder and manager of the Emirates Marine Environment Group (EMEG), said: "It is a female green turtle and she is about 25 years old. She is medium-sized but she is not well because she has been eating plastic debris so she has to go to the rehabilitation unit in Dubai.
"She will receive treatment there for maybe one or two months. If she gets better, they will tag her and release her back into the sea. The Turtle Rehabilitation Unit always does a great job and we really appreciate the work they do. We normally get called when somebody finds a turtle washed up on the beach somewhere in the UAE; we always do our best to help them."
The green turtle is a large, weighty sea turtle with a wide, smooth shell. It inhabits tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world. Weighing up to 320kg, they are among the largest sea turtles in the world.
Factfile:
- Scientific name: Chelonia mydas
- Type: Reptile
- Diet: Herbivore
- Average life span in the wild: Over 80yrs
- Size: Up to 5 ft (1.5m)
- Weight: Up to 320kg
- Group name: Bale
- Protection status: Endangered
Did you know?
Like other sea turtles, the green turtle cannot pull its head into its shell
Females leave the sea and choose an area, often on the same beach used by their mothers, to lay their eggs. They dig a pit in the sand with their flippers, fill it with clutch of 100 to 200 eggs, cover the pit and return to sea, leaving the eggs to hatch after about two months.
