Hawksbill Turtle Rescue

Sat, 08 Nov 2014

By Eco Ranger Ina

Endangered Hawksbill Turtle Rescue

This morning we’ve had a Hawksbill Sea Turtle brought in. She was found by a group of divers at Curtain Artificial Reef, a little North of Tangalooma. She was floating at the surface, unable to dive down. This often happens if the turtle has been eating plastic bags. Sea turtles commonly mistake floating plastic bags and other rubbish for jelly fish which they love to eat. If they eat plastic bags instead, it actually traps air in the stomach of the turtle and that makes it float up at the surface. Then the turtle can’t dive down anymore to where her food is and she will eventually starve or even get hit by a boat. The one today was very skinny and underweight and also had an injury to the side o f her shell that was bleeding. Marine Park rangers will pick her up tomorrow morning and take her to the vet on the mainland.

Hawksbill Turtles are actually an endangered species and quite rare around here, so hopefully she will recover so that we can release her back into Moreton Bay very soon! But this is another example of marine life being affected by our rubbish. That’s why it is so important to reduce, reuse, recycle and say NO to plastic bags!

Eco Ranger Ina

About the author

Eco Ranger Ina

Eco Ranger Ina was a former Eco Ranger and Whale Watching Commentator from the Tangalooma Marine Education and Conservation Centre.

Book Now