Hiyala

Hiyala, which means “beauty” in Dhivehi, is a juvenile olive ridley who as found entangled in a plastic mesh bag by the water-sports team from Kuramathi Island Resort, in North Ari Atoll. They carefully disentangled her and brought her to the resort, where the Eco Centre Department called our veterinary team for advice. After we established that Hiyala needed veterinary care, the rescuers swiftly arranged box and transport for this juvenile entanglement victim to travel all the way to the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll. After a speedboat and seaplane ride, Hiyala arrived on the same day!

Hiyala underwent a thorough health assessment, including physical examination, X-rays, full blood work, and a neurological evaluation. She had suffered injuries to all her flippers, but thankfully retains full range of motion in all, despite the swelling – which we are hoping will decrease after initiating cold laser therapy.

Thank you Hussain, Mazwaan and Aleem for the rescue and TMA for the seaplane ride!

13 March 2024
Hiyala has been eating voraciously, gaining steady weight and growing. After several cold laser therapy sessions, both the swelling and the soft tissue lesions healed remarkably well. She had a final check up yesterday and received a clean bill of health.

We are excited to share Hiyala was released off-shore this afternoon. After a couple of minutes getting orientated, she dove fast into the deep blue!