Two loggerhead turtles found dead

Two loggerhead turtles have been found dead within a space of 10 days at Ramla Bay in Gozo. 

Nature Trust (Malta) said it appeared that their death was caused by fishing lines in their system.  Loggerhead turtles often get caught on long lines.

Fishermen often cut these turtles loss in order to release them but at times the line attached to the hook is left long.  This results in being swallowed by the turtle and ends up passing through the animal’s digestive system.

While hooks may take a few months to degrade, the fishing lines take years. Once in the intestines of the turtle, lines may causes infection and a painful death.

Nature Trust appealed to fishermen to cut the line as close to the mouth as possible when releasing a turtle.  This will give the reptile a higher chance of survival.  The NGO also appealed to the public and boat owners noting turtles that cannot dive or look ill to either contact the authorities or the Nature Trust (Malta) Wildlife Rescue giving also the exact location.

Common turtle problems are swallowing of fishing lines, swallowing of plastic bags or other plastic objects, hits by boats, bites by other fish and at times swallowing balloons which end up in the sea after being released from land.

The NGOs recently embarked on a Turtle rehabilitation project and is collecting funds to set up the Wildlife Rehabilitation centre in Malta. The project has so far been supported by AirMalta.

Nature Trust (Malta) can be contacted on on 21313150 or info@naturetrustmalta.org