SCUBA Feb 2021 Issue 111 | Page 20

An exhausted hawksbill turtle was rescued by three ocean-loving women determined to assure his survival . Story by Simon Rogerson , photos by Go Freediving / Pash Baker

Saving Harry

An exhausted hawksbill turtle was rescued by three ocean-loving women determined to assure his survival . Story by Simon Rogerson , photos by Go Freediving / Pash Baker

The turtle as they found him , virtually immobile

For the women in the azure water , it was an opportunity to escape the British winter and Covid gloom ; for the stricken turtle facing an agonising death , it was a lifeline like no other ... and all thanks to three wise women with an affinity for marine life .

The setting was the shores of Ellaidhoo Island in the central Maldives , where professional freedivers Emma Farrell and Pash Baker had travelled in search of warm blue water and marine encounters . Both experienced instructors for Go Freediving , they had travelled to the Maldives for a pre- Christmas treat , but they ended up playing nursemaid to an endangered turtle .
Emma and Pash were enjoying the sights of Ellaidhoo ’ s house reef , swimming through schools of fish and following a shark when
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