Day 3-23rd October 2014-Disabled Turtle Shelter

This beautiful OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE lost all her fins after becoming entangled in a fisherman's net; instead of cutting the net they simply decided to cut off her fins instead... heartbreaking! It's doubtful that she will ever be released back into the wild. She is fed, cleaned & looked after in the sanctuary, but it's hard to believe she would be happier in the sanctuary's enclosure than where she belongs... in the wild.

Although I know the whole point of the turtle project is to rehabilitate these injured turtles, it just doesn't seem right to be able to keep the disabled turtles in enclosures for the remainder of their lives. They are wild animals and are supposed to be free. Myself and many other volunteers struggled to come to terms with this whilst there.

This beautiful GREEN TURTLE came to the sanctuary after being caught in a fisherman's hook. The hook went straight through the turtle's eye, blinding his right eye and severely damaging his left so his vision is severely impaired; the hook forced the left eye outwards.

This GREEN TURTLE lost one of her limbs to fisherman as she was caught in their nets.

This is one of the HAWKS BILL TURTLES that we have in the disabled sanctuary. She also lost one of her limbs as a result of getting caught in a fisherman’s net.

It is uncertain was happened to this OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE. It could have been a collision with a boat, but it is likely to have been caught on a hook. The turtles’ jaw is broken and it is unable to close it’s jaws, thus feeding this turtle proves difficult at times.