Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been lost, abandoned, or discarded at sea.
Every year they are responsible for killing millions of marine animals.
The Story So Far
1,400+ ghost nets and ghost gear fragments removed from the Indian ocean
777 entangled turtles reported:
56% juveniles, 19% females, 3% males and 21% unknown
89% olive ridleys
91 injured turtles treated at the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre:
80% olive ridleys
80% victims of ghost net, plastic, or marine debris entanglement
39 turtles successfully released
3,335+ sea turtles identified
21,512+ sea turtle sightings documented
The Olive Ridley Project, UK Registered Charity No 1165905, was founded in 2013 in response to the large amounts of entangled Olive ridley sea turtles found in the Maldives, where this turtle species is particularly rare. Most encounters with this vulnerable sea turtle here are under stressful conditions; entangled in discarded fishing nets, also known as ghost nets, or floating injured on the surface.
ORP is on a mission to remove ghost nets from the ocean, rescue and rehabilitate injured sea turtles, reuse and reduce marine debris, and educate the world about the danger of ghost nets and the perilous situation of sea turtles.
Our community of volunteers and citizen scientists, environmentalists and Marine Biologists around the Indian Ocean are invaluable to ORP. Their contributions have so far been phenomenal.
In February 2017 we opened our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in partnership with Coco Collection in Baa Atoll, Maldives. The first fully-equipped marine turtle rescue centre in Maldives has laboratory and surgical facilities as well as a full-time resident turtle veterinarian and can accommodate up to eight turtle patients at the time.