3 injured Olive Ridley turtles wash ashore in 24 hours

MUMBAI: Monsoon hasn’t picked up pace and the Arabian Sea isn’t as choppy yet, but

injured

sea turtles have started washing ashore the coast of Mumbai and nearby areas.

When college students Suraj Gond and Parita Goswami saw a swelling crowd at

Girgaum Chowpatty

on Wednesday afternoon, they moved in closer to check. People were taking selfies with a sea turtle stuck in a discarded fishing net. The over 2ft long Olive Ridley turtle had a severely injured front

flipper

.

The species is listed on Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and is listed ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The students, along with their zoology teacher Utkarsha Chavan, carried the stressed turtle to

Taraporevala aquarium

expecting some relief for the reptile. But as the turtle could not be admitted to the aquarium, the rescuers took it to the BSPCA hospital in Parel. “We have cleaned the wounds and given it antibiotics. For now, we have added edible salt to the water in the holding pool; we will get seawater from the Sewri shore tomorrow,” said Lt Col (Dr) J C Khanna, secretary and in-ch-arge of the hospital. “We will send it to the turtle treatment centre in

Dahanu

for further treatment and release.”

Around the same time, another Olive Ridley was washed ashore at Vadrai beach in

Palghar

. This turtle had sustained severe injuries in both its right flippers. “We will have to amputate the front right flipper,” said Dr Dinesh Vinherkar, a wildlife veterinarian associated with the Dahanu turtle treatment centre.

“The same injured turtle was found stuck in fishermen’s nets a week ago; they had cut the nets and released it. Had they brought the turtle to the treatment centre then, it would have had a better chance of recovery,” said wildlife activist Bhushan Bhoir, who had rescued the sea turtle.

At 4.30pm on Tuesday, another injured sea turtle was found on a beach in Dahanu. “It has deep cuts on two flippers which has led to tissue necrosis. We will try to save the flippers,” said Dr Vinherkar.