ORP Turtle Patient Update Issue 7|2019

Today, Sunday June 16th 2019, is World Sea Turtle Day! Of course, every day is sea turtle day for the ORP team, but we are very excited about today! We have lots of celebrations going on, including not one, but two, sea turtle festivals!

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Last Updated: July 6, 2019
Home » Blog » ORP Turtle Patient Update Issue 7|2019

Happy World Sea Turtle Day!

Today, Sunday June 16th 2019, is World Sea Turtle Day! Of course, every day is sea turtle day for the ORP team, but we are very excited about today! We have lots of celebrations going on, including a sea turtle festival – the first one ever to take place on Diani Beach, Kenya!

This afternoon we released three more patients live on Facebook: TJ, Taloola and Moodhu Vina.

  • Olive ridley turtle patient TJ at the ORP Turtle Rescue Centre, Maldives
    TJ – released 16 June 2019
  • Olive ridley ghost net victim recovering at ORP turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Taloola – released 16 June 2019
  • Ghost gear victim olive ridley turtle Moodhu Vina at the ORP Turtle Rescue Centre Maldives
    Moodhu Vina – Released 16 June 2019

If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you know that we have geared up to World Sea Turtle Day with Sea Turtle Week all week, with lots of information about all seven species of sea turtles (five species of sea turtles are found in the Indian Ocean) and the issues threatening their survival.

Diani Beach Sea Turtle Festival

Diani Beach Sea Turtle Festival l2019

In Kenya, ORP is joining the Marine Education Centre at Diani Beach, along with several other NGOs and partners, for a full day of sea turtle related activities.

This is Diani’s first sea turtle festival and it will have something for children and grown ups alike! Local schools are also participating. In addition to art and sand sculpture competitions, scavenger hunts and races, there are art and sea turtle donation auctions and more!

Celebrating Released Sea Turtles

Sea turtle vet Claire swimming with turtle patient Penny in the sea
Penny, or longest staying patient during a swimming lesson in the ocean before her release. She stayed at the Rescue Centre for nearly two years!

Today we would also like to celebrate all the sea turtles we have successfully rehabilitated and released at the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll, Maldives. Since we opened in February 2017, we have treated a total of 97 sea turtles and 45 of these have been successfully released back into the ocean! Some are still in residence, some have been transferred to other rescue centres for long term rehabilitation, and some, sadly, we could not save.

Green-turtle-baby-hatchling-Claire-floating-on-seagrass-raft-Maldives-ORP
Baby turtle Claire released on a sea grass raft

Out of the sea turtles we have released, 82% were olive ridley turtles, 9% were green turtles, 7% were hawksbills, and 2% were loggerhead turtles. 49% were juveniles, so we do not know if they were male or female; 27% were adults out of which almost half were females and only 2% were males; 22% were sub-adults (all female) and 2% were little hatchlings.

62% of our released sea turtles were treated for ghost net related injuries; 11% had been found floating, unable to dive; 9% were treated for plastic debris related injuries; and the rest were treated for a mix of fishing hook injuries, having been kept as pets, predator attacks and unknown causes.

We would like to thank all of our adoptive turtle parents and supporters for their generous donations. Your gifts are making a difference to sea turtles in the Indian Ocean. All of us at ORP are deeply grateful for your support!

Our Released Sea Turtles

Meet most of our released sea turtles – proof that sea turtle conservation works!

  • Hawksbill-HK2295-ALI-JAPPO-c-Lauren-Arthur-Baa-Dhonfanu
    Ali Jappo on her home reef, captured by Lauren Arthur in 2015
  • Amelie
  • Arin, Olive ridley turtle patient recovering rescue centre pool Maldives
    Arin
  • Beyonce
  • Big Mummy
  • Bintang
  • Olive ridley turtle Boston, ghost net victim Maldives
    Boston
  • Olive ridley turtle patient Bubble at ORP rescue centre Maldives
    Bubble
  • Olive ridley turtle and ghost gear victim Burrito is happily hanging out in her tank after almost 6 months at the rescue centre
    Burrito
  • Turtle patient Calypso back in the ocean after being released, Maldives
    Calypso
  • Olive ridley turtle Chanel posing for the camera ORP rescue centre Maldives
    Chanel
  • Olive ridley turtle Chouchou Maldives Rescue Centre
    Chouchou
  • Turtle patient Chrissi fully recovered and ready to be released
    Chrissi
  • Claire
  • Rare green leuristic turtle Maldives
    Cloud
  • Green turtle baby Crush ORP rescue centre Maldives
    Crush
  • Ellie in her tank
    Ellie
  • Baby loggerhead turtle Emme Maldives rescue centre
    Emme
  • Olive ridley turtle suffering from buoyancy syndrome, ORP Rescue Centre, Maldives
    Florence
  • Olive ridley turtle patient Flow recovering from flipper amputation in the tank at ORP turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Flow
  • Ghost net amputee olive ridley turtle Maldives
    Giuliana
  • Happy Feet
  • Baby Olive ridley turtle Hope at ORP turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Hope
  • Green turtle Kamana at the ORP turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Kamana
  • Baby hawksbill turtle Lisle at the ORP Turtle Rescue Centre Maldives
    Lisle
  • Baby turtle Luna almost recovered at the rescue centre
    Luna
  • Olive ridley ghost net victim Moofushi at the ORP turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Moofushi
  • Ghost gear victim olive ridley turtle Moodhu Vina at the ORP Turtle Rescue Centre Maldives
    Moodhu Vina
  • Ghost gear victim Olive ridley turtle Maldives
    Nadia
  • Nanni, Olive ridley turtle ghost net flipper amputee Maldives
    Nanni
  • Noor, juvenile Olive ridley sea turtle patient in pool at ORP rescue centre Maldives
    Noor
  • Pauline
  • Pearl-Olive-ridley-turtle-patient-recovering-ORP-rescue-centre-tanks-Maldives
    Pearl
  • Olive ridley turtle ghost gear victim Maldives
    Penny
  • Olive ridley turtle Polina always curious Maldives
    Polina
  • Hawksbill turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Shanan
  • Turtle patient Shelly being fed at the turtle rescue centre
    Shelley
  • Olive ridley ghost net victim recovering at ORP turtle rescue centre Maldives
    Taloola
  • Olive ridley turtle patient TJ at the ORP Turtle Rescue Centre, Maldives
    TJ

Current Patients

Olive ridley turtle Myrtle and baby green turtle Sherbert at ORP Turtle Rescue Centre, Maldives
Myrtle and Sherbert

We have not forgotten about our current turtle patients! The Rescue Centre is currently running at full capacity with 10 patients: Heidi, Eve, Lynn, Artemis, Nemo, Azura, Joy, Elba, Myrtle and Lucky. Myrtle and Lucky are recent arrivals.

We also received a tiny juvenile green turtle, called Sherbert. who had been kept as a pet. Sherbert had an infected front flipper with the bone exposed. He had surgery to amputate the tip of his flipper, but unfortunately he never recovered. A post mortem showed that he had enlarged kidneys. His appearance was also very abnormal.

In more sad news, Faith never fully recovered. About a week after coming to the Rescue Centre, she passed away. It turns out she also suffered from severe liver disease. We did everything we possibly could to save this critically endangered hawksbill. We were devastated when she passed away.

urtle patient Florence fully recovered and ready to be released
Florence fully recovered and ready to be released

In good news, Florence was released on May 30th 2019.

You can check out all the current turtle patients here.

Happy World Sea Turtle Day from the ORP Team!