Phoenix

All Turtle Patients

Meet Phoenix, A Severely Injured Olive Ridley

Phoenix was an adult female olive ridley turtle who was found entangled in a ghost net with severe injuries. She was found by Kuredu Prodivers staff in Lhaviyani Atoll.

Intake Date: 26th November 2018
Length: 68cm
Weight: 33.5kg
Status: Deceased 7th December 2018

Phoenix was first taken to Atoll Marine Centre, Naifaru, where she was brilliantly triaged. She received fluids, and was dry docked and tightly wrapped due to the severity of her injuries. The team named her Phoenix as they though she must be incredibly strong to have survived this horrific ordeal.

We suspect that Phoenix had been entangled for days before she was found to sustain these kinds of injury. On arrival at the Turtle Rescue Centre, Turtle Vet Claire gave her pain relief medication. She also performed surgery to remove Phoenix’s damaged flippers.

Post surgery, Phoenix only got weaker. We suspected that she was fighting an infection that had spread throughout her body. She finnaly succumbed to her injuries on December 7th, 2018.

During the postmortem to assess the overall cause of death, we discovered a large fishing hook embedded in her oesophagues. Phoenix was not only a victim of being entangled in ghost nets – she also ingested it.

Phoenix is another poignant reminder of the devastation that plastic has to marine life and sadly another life lost in its wake.