Maldives Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation

At the close of January, we were caring for four Olive Ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea), one Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and zero Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in our Rehabilitation Centre at Landaa.

At Kuda Huraa, turtle stranding season has started with a bang, with four new Olive Ridley admissions, and at the close of the month we had five inhouse patients.
Due to the new arrivals, Ari and Emma have been placed in our largest pool, now divided down the centre. So far, Ari seems shy and uninterested in Emma, but Emma is very curious about Ari! Ari has also been enjoying regular escorted ocean swims out in the open lagoon.

New Turtle Patients

• 6 January – Xanchi is the first patient of this year’s turtle stranding season, admitted to our Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at Landaa. He was found entangled in ghost netting, suffering from a deep cut to his right front flipper.
• 11 January – Seakid is the first patient this year, admitted to Kuda Huraa. He was found floating on the ocean surface, without serious injury but presenting major buoyancy issues. We hope his appetite improves soon, and we are encouraging diving behaviours.
• 19 January – Michelangela arrived at Kuda Huraa already missing her front left flipper due to prolonged entanglement. She suffered a cloacal prolapse that was treated and stitched, and then she was sent to our turtle vet Katrina at Landaa for amputation surgery of the rear flipper. Despite all of this trauma, she is recovering well and we are optimistic for a healthy recovery.
• 23 January – Mora had extensive damage to her right rear flipper (caused by entanglement), which required amputation surgery. She also has a deep cut to the front left flipper, and she is underweight due to prolonged entanglement. With special care and monitoring, we hope to give her the best chance of recovery.
• 25 January – Burrita arrived at Kuda Huraa with all flippers intact, but with severe buoyancy syndrome. She has been stressed and over-active, and has damaged her nose on the pool wall. We are also applying eye ointment on her corneal ulcer.

Sea Turtle Nest Protection – Maldives

• 15 January night – we received a call informing us of a turtle on the beach at Landaa! On arrival, we found a large female green turtle, around 1.2m in length, digging a nest above the high-water mark. Returning later that night, we found a large volume of sand had been moved, and the turtle had returned to the ocean. The next morning, we located a nest with eggs and fenced-off the area for protection. We are now monitoring the nest and will begin looking for signs of hatching at around the 50-day mark (mid-March).
• 26 January morning – we received a call to say that signs of turtle nesting had been found on the same stretch of beach. On investigation, this was determined to be a ‘false crawl’ with no nest dug, but we expected the same turtle to return the next night.
• 27 January – we found further evidence of turtle activity on the beach. One track led to and from a partially dug nest, but tree roots seem to have prevented further digging. Slightly further along the beach, a large area of sand had been disturbed and we managed to locate another nest. Due to the close proximity to the high tide line, we obtained an emergency government permit to relocate the nest higher up the beach, towards the tree line, to reduce the risk of flooding. In total, 95 turtle eggs were removed from the nest and 90 were reburied (five were found broken). This second nest is also under close watch, and we expect it to hatch towards the end of March.