Andy Torbet packed his snorkel to meet April , a rescued turtle who was to receive a new lease of life in the little-known tropic of Scotland
I
normally deal with British stories and issues in this column , but this story starts in the tropics . Bear with me though , because we do return to Britain in the end .
I was asked by the Sea Life Trust , a marine conservation charity , to follow the story of April the Turtle from a rehabilitation centre on the island of Kuda Huraa in the Maldives , to her new home in Scotland . April is an Olive Ridley Turtle , the smallest of the seven marine turtle species .
April was found wrapped in ghost netting , and her ordeal had led to her losing her front right flipper , alongside some lung damage . It was the latter which had the greater impact , as it left her unable to control her buoyancy – she was permanently positive . She could no longer leave the surface of the ocean , which meant she couldn ’ t feed , escape predators or take shelter from severe sunlight . Left to her own devices she would have suffered a slow ,
Head marine biologist Alejandra Carrera makes final health checks before releasing turtles back into the wild
tortuous death .
The aim of any good animal rehabilitation centre , turtle or otherwise , should be to nurse the creature back to a state of health , where it is safe to release it back into the wild . And during our visit we released young turtles that had arrived at the centre as sick hatchlings but were now fit to be returned to their natural world .
April was not so lucky . Her injuries were so severe that she wouldn ’ t survive without constant human care . With that care she could expect to survive from her present five or so years for many decades . However , the rehabilitation centre is small and not designed to home animals permanently . April had to be moved for her own welfare , and also to free up what is in effect a ‘ turtle hospital bed ’ for the continuous stream of injured reptiles . So the decision was made to move April to the extensive tropical reef tank at Sea Life Loch Lomond .
Andy joins the SeaLife team as they attach coral ‘ cuttings ’ to a frame before placing it on the reef
April , the injury to her right front flipper evident , takes her daily dip in the Indian Ocean .