April the injured sea turtle who was found entangled in a plastic bag in the Maldives finds a new home 5,000 miles away in SCOTLAND, becoming the first Olive Ridley species to settle in the UK
- April, an olive ridley sea turtle, was at Turtle Rehabilitation Centre in Maldives
- She was relocated to Scotland, making her first the olive ridley sea turtle in UK
- When she was found, she was entangled in netting with plastic bag around neck
- She joins five other sea turtles taken to new home through Flying Turtles Project
A sea turtle who was found injured and entangled in a plastic bag in the Maldives has found a new home – 5,000 miles away in Scotland.
April, an olive ridley sea turtle, was found floating on the ocean surface tangled in netting with a plastic bag around her neck in Raa Atoll, Maldives in April 2019.
She was taken in by the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives on the island of Landaa Giraavaru.
April, an olive ridley sea turtle, enjoys a swim in the sea as a part of her enrichment, at the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at Four Seasons Resort at Kuda Huraa, Maldives (pictured above)
April was found floating on the ocean surface entangled in netting with a plastic bag around her neck. Pictured: a selection of debris including plastic bottles and discarded netting found on the beach at the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at Four Seasons Resort
April, an olive ridley sea turtle, arrives at Sea Life Loch Lomond in Glasgow, after travelling 5,000 miles
April was already missing her right front flipper because of the netting and her left was injured by the friction caused by the plastic bag.
An X-ray later revealed she was also suffering from a lung infection, with possible tears in her lungs.
Vets found April also suffers from buoyancy issues – where she cannot fully immerse herself under water – which means that she cannot return to the wild.
This has led to the turtle being relocated 5,000 miles from the Maldives to the Sea Life centre in Loch Lomond, making her the first olive ridley sea turtle in the UK.
Animal Care Curator, Mark Hind (pictured) places April, an olive ridley sea turtle, into a crate before beginning her journey to the UK
Two juvenile sea turtles are released back into the wild at the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at Four Seasons Resort
HOW DOES PLASTIC KILL TURTLES?
Sea turtles live in the ocean and feed on vegetation and algae floating in the waters.
Unfortunately, many pieces of litter discarded by humans pollute these waters and resemble food.
The sea turtles mistake them for nutrition and consume them.
This plastic then enters their digestive tract and causes havoc to the animal’s innards.
A study in 2018 found eating a single piece of plastic increases the turtles chance of death.
Researchers found there it caused a one in five chance of death – rising to 50 per cent for 14 pieces.
Turtles have a digestive tract which means they are physically incapable of regurgitation.
Once something has been eaten, it stays in the animal unless it can be defecated.
Once inside the animal, if a piece of plastic covers an organ or blocks a key canal, it can create a fatal blockage.
Plastic blockages stopping the passing of food or faeces can kill turtles, but harder pieces can also inflict fatal internal injuries.
All sea turtles found in the Maldives, including the olive ridley, hawksbill and green turtle have an endangered status of some kind, and according to the Turtle Conservation Society, most species live between 10 and 80 years.
The olive ridley is on the vulnerable list and hundreds die along the eastern coastline of India every year, mostly due to fishing activities.
The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
Two Maldives-based environmental agencies, Reefscapers And Marine Savers, as well as the UK’s Sea Life aquarium business and its conservation charity the Sea Life Trust, teamed up with IAG Cargo to fly April to her new UK home.
April joins five other sea turtles taken to new homes through the Flying Turtles Project, while Marine Savers has rehabilitated and released more than 180 others to date.
Kathryn Angel, Sea Life Loch Lomond’s general manager, said: ‘We are thrilled to welcome April to the Loch Lomond family. She has settled in brilliantly. To have a turtle in our facility once again is a real pleasure.
‘April suffered injuries as a result of plastic pollution, so by having April on site at Sea Life Loch Lomond, children can actually see the impact that plastic pollution can have on the creatures first hand.’
Andy Torbet, Sea Life Trust ambassador, said: ‘Being re-homed to the Sea Life Centre is great for April, it’s going to give her the best quality of life that she can have for the remainder of her life.
‘She’ll be a great ambassador not only for marine life and sea turtles, but because of her injuries, which were quite obvious, she’ll act as an ambassador for the idea of plastic pollution and ghost netting being an issue, and why we need to do something about that.
‘When you see an injured turtle up close and personal with injuries caused by ghost nets and plastic pollution, that sort of issue is driven home a lot more intensely.’
WHAT ARE THE LATEST PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE IMPACT OF OCEAN WASTE?
The amount of plastic in the oceans is expected to triple in just ten years, a report issued by the UK government in March 2018 warned.
This key environmental problem risks being ‘out of sight, out of mind’ with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed, it added.
The toll of plastic pollution in the sea could be 150million tonnes by 2025 – treble the 50million tonnes estimated in 2015.
Our oceans store carbon dioxide and heat while producing oxygen and food, the Foresight Future of the Sea Report stressed.
On the growing blight of plastic pollution, the document warned this will leave a physical presence, accumulating on coasts or in particular areas of ocean.
The report also warned plastic litter on coasts can increase the risk of dangerous bacteria in the water, such as E.coli.
It said efforts to reduce plastic pollution should focus on stopping it entering the sea, developing new biodegradable materials and public awareness campaigns.
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