TORBET ON THE TUBE
I was fortunate enough to spend three days with April and the team looking after her in the Maldives and took the opportunity to get out snorkelling on the reefs around our island . I also took the opportunity to snorkel with April on one of her regular supervised swims in the sheltered bay by the rehab centre .
These swims gave her valuable stimulus , and a chance to swim among the coral and creatures of her natural habitat , something the Sea Life aquarium would be able to recreate , up to a point . Still , it would be safe and it would be a great deal more naturalistic than her sterile hospital tank in the Maldives .
I also managed to assist in the release of several young turtles , following them into the azure blue waters , although only briefly – it ’ s incredible how fast a turtle as big as my hand can swim . The winds had been up and the visibility was relatively poor , which I hoped would provide some cover and safety for these young turtles . We also ‘ planted ’ some coral frames . Under this system , coral is carefully removed from existing clusters and attached to these frames , which are in turn placed in the sea to ‘ seed ’ the area with more coral .
It was , if you pardon the pun , a drop in the ocean compared to what will be required to save our blue planet . But the world is a complex matrix of billions of systems , each in turn made up of other systems , ecosystems , species and individual creatures all interacting with each other .
To build a wall , you first have to place a single brick . I hope that April ’ s public presence will help visitors to Loch Lomond understand the problems of plastic pollution , ghost netting and the plight of our underwater world . �
Above : Mark Hind , Head Curator , carefully prepares April for the journey
Below : Rehabilitated hatchlings are released on the beach
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