Wednesday, August 13, 2014

City conservationist nurture injured Olive Ridley back to sea

Chennai:

Olive Ridley Turtle ‘Nisha’ may have been one more addition to the
number of turtles killed due to ghost nets in the sea had it not been
due to the efforts of Tree Foundation and Students’ Sea Turtle
Conservation Network.

The turtle Christened as ‘Nisha’ after being rescued by Nishanth, a
volunteer of by Students’ Sea Turtle Conservation Network, hit the sea
again on Saturday after six months of care given by Tree foundation
along with students from WCC (Women’s Christian College), Roots &
Shoots volunteers, Sea Turtle Protection Force members and
International Student Volunteers.

Dr Supraja Dharini, Chairperson, TREE Foundation said that the
stranded turtle found at Santhome beach on February this year was
nurtured back to health by Dr Jean Beasley, Topsail Turtle Rescue and
Rehabilitation Centre, North Carolina along with Tree Foundation.
‘Nisha’ was fed with a variety of fresh sea food from the ocean
offered by the fishing community volunteers.

‘Nisha’ was unable to use her right flipper and was taken to Tamil
Nadu Veterinary College, Vepery. A surgery was performed to remove a
piece of shell that was embedded into her cut wound in the right
flipper.

After six months, ‘Nisha’ gained 4.1 kgs in weight and was strong and
healthy to return to the ocean, said Supraja.

The turtle was taken by boat 4km off shore from Periya Neelankarai
fishing village near Neelankarai, into the sea and released near the
rock formation where a wide variety of prey fish are always found, in
order to make it easy for her to feed.

Prabhakaran, Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Protection and
Vigilance -North Tamil Nadu, M Velu,  Inspector Mamallapuram-Coastal
Security Group and Dr Joe,  a senior scientist  Central Marine
Fisheries Research Institute were present during the occasion.

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