Staff members prepare a sea turtle for blood test at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
Established in 1999 by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Israel's National Sea Turtle Rescue Center has treated some 1000 turtles, mainly loggerhead and green sea turtles, as well as soft-shell and Western Caspian turtles and even some dolphins.
by Xinhua writers Wang Zhuolun, Shang Hao
JERUSALEM, June 15 (Xinhua) -- With applause from cheerful crowds, a rescued sea turtle finally returned to the Mediterranean Sea on northern Israel's beaches prior to this year's World Sea Turtle Day, which will fall on Thursday.
After recovering from a two-month treatment at Israel's National Sea Turtle Rescue Center, the sea turtle, named by the rescuers as Micha, was released back home. Micha's moment of rebirth was witnessed by the staff of the center and the locals, who stood solicitously at the beach seeing the figure of the turtle receding, until it was completely out of sight.
A sea turtle is released back to the sea by the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center at a beach near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
Such turtle release activities are held from time to time by the center. The rescued turtles are temporarily housed at the center for medical treatment and rehabilitation, and then released to the sea when they recover. When the "seeing-off" date is set, the center will inform the public, usually attracting many parents and children to attend the activity.
Established in 1999 by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the center has treated some 1000 turtles, mainly loggerhead and green sea turtles, as well as soft-shell and Western Caspian turtles and even some dolphins, Yaniv Levy, manager of the rescue center, told Xinhua.
However, the moment of release is not a final farewell of people to sea turtles. Some released turtles will carry a special gift from humans back home --- transmitters on the shell equipped with satellite telemetry technology, through which people can track their location and whereabouts in the open ocean. The satellite re-transmits the data to a receiving station on earth, which researchers can access through their computers.
A staff member prepares a sea turtle for blood test at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
This provides better data support for the study of sea turtle habitats and lay a scientific basis for further protection of them, said Levy, adding that the tracking website is also accessible to the public.
"It's really interesting to see where they go and how they live. They pass around coastal areas of Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Tunisia, Libya, Italy, and French," he said.
Stepping into the rescue center, the first thing that came to sight is fish hooks in various shapes and sizes, which are the main cause of the injuries of the turtles. Next to each hook, the name and the rescue date of the injured turtle are clearly written, warning of the damage caused by humans to marine life.
In the courtyard, each injured sea turtle is placed in one pond, with an information board specifying the type of injury and the process of treatment.
A staff member checks temperature of water tanks that house injured sea turtles at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Shang Hao)
According to the World Wildlife Fund, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles are accidentally caught by trawling, gillnetting, or longline fishing. They become fisheries' bycatch --- animals accidentally caught in nets intended for other species.
"They arrive at our center because of human impact. Nets, trawlers' nets, gillnets, hooks, long lines, entanglement, boat strikes, propeller hits, tar pollution, plastics that turtles are entangled into ... All these threats are actually from humans," said Levy.
It takes between one month and half a year for turtles to recover at the rescue center, Levy said.
A sea turtle is released back to the sea by the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center at a beach near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
"We have almost 100 volunteers in the rescue center and about 600 volunteers in the nesting season. This is just the beginning. We are planning to increase the number of volunteers who will help for conservation," Levy noted.
Twenty-year-old Shira Edelman, a regular attendee of the "turtle release" event since she was a little girl, is now a dedicated volunteer at the center.
Changing water, measuring the temperature, feeding, and cleaning, like other volunteers, Edelman's daily work is mundane and repetitive. However, they are fully aware that each ordinary act may illuminate the way home of the injured turtles.
"We feel very fulfilled and happy to see them finally go home. You see how happy they are as they can finally breathe again in the vast ocean where they belong," she said.
A staff member cleans a sea turtle, which has been recovered from injuries and will be released back to the sea, at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Shang Hao)
A staff member cleans water tanks that house injured sea turtles at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center near the northern Israeli city of Hadera on June 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)■
