IT WAS decided Saturday to ‘put down’ a badly mutilated adult female Olive Ridley sea turtle which had sustained her extensive injuries after she had been caught between two ships. She could not be saved although rescued by some fisher folks, brought to shore and taken to the Guyana Zoological Park.The animal had been spinning around aimlessly for some time after it had been caught in a fisher’s net. One of its legs had been broken, and one of its flippers had been amputated while the other had been almost cut off. It had also sustained a broken back and severe internal injuries.

The body of the Olive Ridley was donated to the Guyana Zoological Park Saturday for experimental purposes and for testing after it had been ‘put down’, seeing there was precious little that anyone could have done to save the animal’s life.

Mr Romeo De Freitas, Country Coordinator of the Marine Project/Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society, told reporters that that sea turtle was between 25 and 30 years old, and had apparently been caught in a fisher’s net. He said a cord had apparently been wrapped around it legs and flippers for some time, and that is what had anchored it.

De Freitas said the Society had received a report that the turtle had been caught and rescued by sailors, but when the Society’s members got there, they discovered that the turtle had been badly injured.

From general observation, he said, it appears as though the turtle had been caught in a net or fishing line, after which its left side flipper was severed while its right side flipper was three-quarter way severed.

De Freitas said the turtle could therefore not swim, and had been spinning around in the Demerara River current sandwiched between two ships, which caused the animal further severe injuries.

He said, “There is no way this turtle can survive. We decided to bring it to the Zoo, and we would have to put it out.”

He told reporters that the Olive Ridley turtle is the most indigenous species of turtle in Guyana, but, for the past three years, these animals have encountered flotation problems, being hit by trawlers because they feed on sea bob and prawns, sustaining injuries and being unable to dive anymore.

He implored fisher folks to check their nets and avoid fishing in nesting areas of sea turtles, but he noted that, in some cases, the fishing nets are placed on the ocean floor and would unavoidably take two to three hours to be manually hauled in.

Meanwhile, Mrs Annette Arjoon-Martins of the National Wildlife Management Steering Committee said she received a telephone call from Romeo De Freitas of the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society, which does conservation work with sea turtles at Shell Beach, informing that an adult sea turtle weighing about 1,000 lbs had become entangled in a fisherman’s net, and through its resistance efforts, the net had amputated its flipper and it had received other serious injuries.

She pointed out that, with help of the Protected Areas Commission’s Mr. Damion Fernandes, the zoo’s vehicle and staff were procured to go down to the Guyana National Shipping Corporation (GNIC) wharf to transport the turtle to the Guyana Zoological Park, where a team of technical people were on standby to see if they can save the animal’s life.

Arjoon-Martins said a lengthy delay at the wharf ensued, since port officials had to get clearance to release the sea turtle. Accordingly, there was some ‘red tape’ that had to be dealt with, but the experience constituted a learning opportunity for the future, so they do not end up waiting for an hour and a half for the animal to arrive, whereas the turtle could perish within that time.

She said she had been very heartened by everyone’s quick response, which is a great sign that a team of people had been mobilised immediately after receiving the call.

Arjoon-Martins said the effort was a collaboration among several organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which went down the wharf and looked at the turtle in terms of retrieval and saving; and Calvin Bernard from the University of Guyana (UG) also played a significant part in Saturday’s activity. She said the experience augurs very well for the safety and health of our marine mammals.

She added that from the two whale incidents that occurred in January and December 2014, a team which has been working with advice from experts from within the Caribbean has been formed, and she is totally impressed by the level of local and regional collaboration, which augers well for everyone.

Arjoon-Martins said it is important to know that sea turtles have annual nesting seasons lasting from March to August, and that sea turtles are already 10 miles offshore mating, and that one female sea turtle comes back to shore eight times during that season to lay her eggs.

She appealed to fisher folks to check their nets more often, because sea turtles, like humans, need to breathe air to survive once they get caught in nets; and if they are not released, they drown very easily.

Arjoon-Martins noted that oil exploration industries also carry out seismic tests in their operations, which impact marine life; and she asked that those activities be curtailed during marine nesting seasons.

Shell Beach, a relatively remote 90-mile-long stretch of beach, is located in the North West Region of Guyana. It is the only place is Guyana where four of the world’s eight endangered species of marine turtles — the Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Green (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), come to lay their eggs.
These massive reptiles usually arrive under the cover of darkness from March to August every year.

The name ‘Shell Beach’ is a generic one, encompassing nine beaches with names such as Iron Punt, Luri, Kamwatta, Foxes, Almond, Gwennie and Tiger. Those names have been given by the local fishermen, who have used the area for hundreds of years. These beaches are composed entirely of shells in various degrees of fragmentation and pulverization.
The billions of shell fragments, washed ashore by tidal influences, act as natural nurseries for the eggs of the sea turtles.