AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums About Belize Nature Sea Turtle Rescue After It Swallows A Pufferfish

A group of tourists on a sailing tour shared an experience of a lifetime on Saturday, January 4, 2020, as their captain Horace Bladon and crew of Felicity Sailing saved a 100 pound sea turtle from suffocation after it had swallowed a pufferfish that inflated in its throat.

Jenelle Kim shared on her Instagram account the happenings of an experience she describes as an opportunity to truly connect with another life in nature as she and her family witnessed the turtle rescue first hand during a sailing trip back to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Her husband Craig assisted the crew in pulling the 100-pound turtle onto the yacht. Captain Horace Bladon knew that the turtle had swallowed a small puffer fish which proceeded to inflate in the turtle's throat. The turtle was on the brink of suffocation. The only hope was to be able to remove it from the turtle's throat. Horace was very careful not to hurt the turtle even further and also prevent injury to himself as one snap of the turtles mouth could have taken a finger or his entire hand.

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A Turtle's Tale

A Sailboat captain found himself performing impromptu veterinary surgery on Friday when his crew rescued an approximately loggerhead turtle which was on the brink of suffocation. The turtle had swallowed a live pufferfish and was chocking on it.

He fought off his surgery at first but eventually allowed for deflation and extraction of the troublesome puffer. We spoke to the Captain, Horace Bladon today about the act of kindness that will forever be imprinted in the minds and hearts of his guests and maybe even one loggerhead turtle.

Horace Bladon is a boat captain at Felicity sailing in San Pedro.

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