Last year, Sarveshwaran, a volunteer of the Sea Turtle Protection Force of Tree Foundation (TF) found a female Olive Ridley turtle at the Uyali Kuppam off East Coast Road in Chennai. The turtle had an injured carapace, the protective shell on its back and a cut flipper. It was also severely dehydrated.
Her injuries were most probably from a propeller of a fishing boat. The incidents of sea animals getting injured due to vessel strikes in the sea have become very common.
The volunteers named the turtle Sagarika and decided to help.
“After obtaining permission from the chief wildlife warden, we shifted Sagarika to our rehabilitation centre in Neelankarai. She was then taken to the veterinary college in Vepery for a check-up. Fortunately, there was no internal injury. From then on, our volunteers helped her recover from her injuries,” said Supraja Dharini of TF.
Volunteers spend day and night looking after Sagarika. The sea water in her tank needed to be changed every day. She was also given a healthy diet of fresh fish and crabs.
“More than medicine, the care that our volunteers gave her mattered a lot in her recovery. When she came in she weighed 23.6 kg and has now gained 5kg. Her carapace has also grown,” said Supraja.
Going Back
Last Saturday, the volunteers did a final check and released Sagarika into the waters of Bay of Bengal. A large crowd gathered to witness the special farewell. The boat was taken three km into the sea and the turtle released near a rock formation where fishermen said there was ample fishes to feed on. A rust-free metal tag, with a unique number and contact details of the Foundation, was attached to her flipper to facilitate possible rescue in an emergency.
But after spending 13 months in a tank, Sagarika was a bit reluctant initially swimming in the open sea.
“When Sagarika was released into the waters of the Bay of Bengal, initially she struggled a bit. Velmurugan, a volunteer, immediately jumped into the sea to help her swim, which in a way worked. Sagarika soon swam past us, in the setting sun.”
“She will never get her flipper back,” said Velmurugan. “But we have trained her enough to get back home without a flipper.”
This one turtle saved will hopefully visit the beaches again in an years time to nest and bring into the world next generations of the endangered turtles.’
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