The juvenile hawksbill turtle found near-dead, buried in the sand and choking on plastic rubbish was yesterday returned to the sea off Magnetic Island.During an eight-month stint as the VIP patient in Townsville”s Reef HQ turtle hospital, Alva was hand-fed, bathed, scrubbed and X-rayed at a cost of about $5000.
“It was emotional to say goodbye,” Reef HQ aquarium acting director Fred Nucifora said.
“We’d like to think Alva turned back and gave us a heartfelt look, but it was barely a glance and, with a flick of the flipper, she was off.”
X-rays revealed Alva had a large piece of a plastic shopping bag in her stomach, causing a severe gut blockage.
“When it was found, that turtle was halfway up the beach, head buried in the sand, upside-down, slowly dying in the sun,” Mr Nucifora said. “We brought it back from brink of death. That is the miracle.”
The hawksbill turtle is listed as a critically endangered species, and only one in 1000 survive and grow old enough to lay eggs.
(From news.com.au, Magnetic Island, Australia, by Peter Michael)