Baby Hawksbill Turtle rescued on North Ambergris Belize
On the 7th of May, during a routine pick up of divers from a local resort, Gaz Cooper's Dive Captain Marcos Estrada noticed what seemed to be a black glob of tar floating in the shallows, and it seemed to be moving.
Upon closer examination Marcos noticed that it was a 2 to 3 year old baby Hawksbill Turtle that had been totally covered in black sticky tar and was obviously causing the baby severe trauma and stress since it could not swim or eat due to its predicament.
With the help of the divers aboard, they rescued the Turtle and brought it back to the Dive Center where it could be treated and cleaned up.
He was thoroughly cleaned by Gaz Cooper, owner and operator of Gaz Cooper's Dive Belize, and prepared for release back into the sea as quickly as possible.
Within a couple of hours "Tommy the Turtle" (as he was quickly named), was clean and back to his normal self, flapping like crazy as if to say..."OK dudes enough already!".
Without further delay, Gaz took Tommy to the end of the dock and released him back into the sea, and with a flip and a flap Tommy was off into adventures unknown.
As divers its our duty to try to help clean up our beaches and minimize the effects of man made pollutants such as, in this case TAR, and in turn helping other creatures avoid life threatening situations such a Tommy the Turtles.
Next time you see a sign for a Beach clean up campaign remember Tommy the Turtle's story and head on out there and give a hand. It takes all of us to make a difference, and WE CAN.
[This message has been edited by Marty (edited 05-08-2002).]