When Ismail Naveen started his career as a Captain at Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) 18 years ago, he expected his passengers to be an endless string of lovestruck honeymooners and eager families, giddy with excitement for their island adventures.
Little did he know that his most precious passenger would arrive in a padded crate, injured and fighting for its life!
Ismail Naveen, the sea turtles’ captain
“The first sea turtle passenger I flew aboard a seaplane was almost a decade ago, and it really was a surprise!” recalls Captain Naveen. At the time, TMA, best known for being the country’s premier seaplane transfer service, was primarily in the business of ferrying holidaymakers between the many resorts scattered across the Maldives. Marine reptiles, understandably, weren’t exactly on the passenger list.
This changed when sea turtle rescue facilities, much like ORP’s Marine Turtle Rescue Centre, began responding to emergency calls from across the archipelago. Overnight, there emerged a need to transport injured sea turtles from remote islands to facilities where they could receive specialised veterinary care.
But transporting a sea turtle aboard a seaplane – which is smaller than the average three seater in a commercial flight – comes with its own challenges. Size and weight constraints become all the more crucial, and Captain Naveen’s first sea turtle patient certainly did not make the impromptu addition any easier.
“That first sea turtle was a big one, and it weighed a lot, so it was definitely a challenging situation! Thankfully, the turtle patient arrived in a well-built wooden box that ensured its safety.” says Captain Naveen. “It was honestly a beautiful animal, though clearly in pain. So for me, going the extra mile felt right, I knew I was helping a life.”
Noble intentions aside, transferring an injured sea turtle also requires hard logistics. So it was Captain Naveen, who along with his crew, managed the specifics of getting the crate onto the seaplane, positioning and securing it, and manoeuvring it through the aircraft without jostling or further injuring the already vulnerable animal.
The one thing Captain Naveen knew for certain was that there was no time to lose, and the sea turtle needed to reach our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre at Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu in Baa Atoll as soon as possible.
“I know that I speak for all of us when I say this – every single one of our sea turtle transports is something we feel proud of, and remember fondly.” says the good Captain, proudly reminiscing his team’s contribution to the rescue of 167 sea turtle patients that have been flown into ORP’s facilities since 2016.
Why would an injured sea turtle need to be transported by a seaplane?
We all love The Maldives for its extraordinary geography – tiny scattered islands, each wrapped in a blanket of soft white sand that opens into the fragile, beautiful rings of reefs and lagoon beds.
But with nearly 1200 islands stretching across 823 kms from north to south, getting from one little piece of land to another can become difficult. Especially when only 200 of these islands are inhabited, with even fewer having reliable modes of inter-island transport.
In such a scenario, the safest and often the fastest way to get injured sea turtles to emergency care at one of the three ORP sea turtle care facilities, is by air.
Sea turtles in and around Maldives face the threat of entanglement in ghost gear (fishing nets that are abandoned, lost or discarded at sea). Trapped sea turtles can spend days drifting, unable to feed or escape, resulting in starvation and severe injuries, including flipper amputations. Ghost gear entanglement is one of the most common causes of emergency cases at our sea turtle care facilities.
“Our partners at TMA provide a critical link in our ability to treat injured sea turtles, allowing efficient and safe transport for nearly all of our patients. They serve as a type of air ambulance for sea turtles, and TMA’s team is indispensable in the successful transport for our patients to receive life saving care.” says Dr. Maximilian Polyak, Director of Conservation Medicine for ORP.
With TMA’s seaplanes flying across the country, and their routes extending to 80 islands across 14 atolls, a motorboat transfer from wherever an injured sea turtle is found, followed by an airlift with TMA, can get a patient to the closest ORP facility in a matter of hours.
Behind the scenes: Sea turtle flight care protocol
While flying a marine reptile may seem exciting and straightforward, we have to remember that sea turtles aren’t your average cargo. Transporting these animals requires a standardised procedure that everyone can follow.
To this end, our veterinary specialists worked closely with TMA’s ground operations and pilots to establish safety protocols for handling injured sea turtles, refining the process over the years until it became second nature to their teams.
“Beyond the weather – which can make loading trickier – we have meticulous rules for these turtle patients, especially the heavier ones. For instance, we have to take into account the weight distribution, floor space, and the privacy both the patient and our passengers need”, says Captain Naveen, who like the other captains, clocks in early on days of sea turtle transfers to take his time and run all calculations properly.
Given how small the seaplanes are, it’s a real challenge, but one that the TMA staff take on confidently.
What’s made the process smooth over the years is that everyone at TMA genuinely wants to help these animals!” says Cabin Crew Hisaam Ahmed, reassuring us that sea turtles on board even have their own designated VIP service and crew members tasked to ensure their well-being during the flight.
Resort partners too play an active role in these rescues. Not only do they rescue sea turtles and house them temporarily until help arrives, but they even build the carrier box according to proper protocol. Then there’s the coordination for pick-up and drop-off, all of which needs to happen before flying a patient.
“We rely on our resort partners enormously, and together we’ve become a well-oiled machine ready for any case!” says Ms. Alaa Abdul Hannan, TMA’s Deputy Manager of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, highlighting just how many hands and hearts play into delivering each patient to the safety of ORP’s care.
More than a decade of flying sea turtles
What makes the Maldives such an extraordinary travel destination is its underwater beauty, which depends in no small part on sea turtles, who play a crucial role in maintaining these fragile marine ecosystems.
For more than a decade now, TMA has been a part of our mission.
It is an unusual partnership, born not from a conventional conservation programme, but from the very practical need of getting injured sea turtles to safety across the scattered islands of the Maldives. What began as an occasional sea turtle passenger has, over the past decade, grown into a well-established collaboration, with TMA’s pilots and ground crews now an integral part of the rescue network.
“As an airline focused entirely on domestic flights within the Maldives, we’re acutely aware that this environment is the only one we have. ORP is the first conservation organisation to build such a direct and strong relationship with us, and we feel privileged to be able to contribute in such a meaningful way,” says Ms Alaa, who hopes that future generations will continue to respect sea turtles as an intrinsic part of the Maldivian way of life.
Our partnership with Trans Maldivian Airways is a testament to something we’ve always believed in – that it truly takes a village to save a sea turtle. TMA has become an important part of that village, reminding us that help can come in many forms. And what is perhaps most endearing is knowing that sometimes, saving a life begins with finding it a seat on a seaplane.
