Fixing a satellite tag to Akua's carapaceWe currently have five turtles under our care at Landaa Giraavaru turtle conservation centre.

Ossy has regained her appetite and is gaining strength; her amputated flipper has healed well and she’s trying hard to dive. We hope to be able to release her before too long.

Naushad (large mature female) is improving well after the amputation of her flipper.

Elisa (long term) has been spotted on the bottom of the pool on a few occasions and she has been taken for swimming lessons in the sea pen.

Bobita (long term) is currently residing in our sea pen in the lagoon, where she is practising her diving.

Zahiya (long term) continues to suffer from ill-health and may never be fit enough for release.

Akua was released on 27 October with a satellite tag; you can follow her travel route here on our interactive maps. She was found on 22 August, close to Madhirivaadhoo island in a very large ghost net. Akua was fed well and monitored closely during her stay at our centre and during two months of rehabilitation she slowly gained weight and recovered from buoyancy issues.

Dhinko was our first green turtle resident at Landaa – he was being kept as a pet on a local island and was brought to us by a staff member for a health check-up and a proper release to a better life in the wild.

UPDATE

Approximately 24 hours after his release, we realised that Dhinko’s satellite tag had developed a fault and stopped transmitting. We were, however, incredibly lucky that he had been spotted earlier in the day, swimming in the lagoon close to the jetty – so we simply went and retrieved him again!
After securing and resetting the tag, we tested it for a further 48 hours to ensure it was transmitting normally.
For Dhinko’s second release day, we decided to take him further afield (close to the island of Milaidhoo) and this time he quickly swam away from the boat and out of sight.