ASR celebrates another turtle rehabilitation
Members of Australian Seabird (and Sea Turtle) Rescue celebrated another successful sea turtle rehabilitation this week in Byron Bay.
The magnificent Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) was found by Ballina Shire Council employee James Brideson, stranded and distressed in thick polluted storm foam on Angels Beach on January 11. Suffering from severe Float Syndrome, “Angel” was delivered to ASR’s WildlifeLink Sanctuary to begin an intensive rehabilitation regime to restore her health.
One of the crankier turtles ASR has seen for a while, Angel had to be isolated from other turtles due to her anti-social propensity to bite anything within range.
ASR president Rochelle Ferris said: “It’s no wonder she was cranky. After a month in care, Angel passed fibres of plastic orange rope. She must have had a terrible stomach ache. Sadly, this is another example of our native wildlife suffering because of a habitat polluted with plastics. In every square mile of ocean it is estimated that there are over 46,000 pieces of plastic.”
Days after ASR members made the faecal discovery, Angel’s behaviour returned to normal.
North Coast Branch representative Kath Southwell noted the acceleration in progress in the rehabilitation reports, ‘Sitting on the bottom!!! Hooray! Healthy appetite and more sociable.’
After a few weeks regaining strength and returning to a healthier bodyweight, Angel was released into the bay at Byron under the watchful eyes of the Stingrays Ocean Swimming team.
“We see turtles in the seagrass beds and reefs every day as we swim across the bay. We’ll definitely be keeping a lookout for Angel,” ASR member and ocean swimmer Nicky Greenlaw said.
ASR remains the only not-for-profit organisation in Australia licensed to rehabilitate sea turtles. With minimal government support, ASR survives on membership fees, donations and community fundraising events. Please help where you can.
