On Wednesday, a sick Hawksbill turtle was rescued near Hopkins Beach and after a rescue, is now well on the way to rehabilitation.
The sea turtle was found by Judell Nunez and his father as they were hauling out a boat at Hopkins Beach. She was floating in the sea close to shore and after being pulled out to the beach, Alicia Eck, Manager at Glover's Reef Marine Reserve, a Hopkins resident, was notified.
Eck took the injured animal home where she nursed it until it could be kept overnight in the facility of a tropical fish export business in Hopkins.
The turtle was then taken to Belize City on Thursday to the Belize Fisheries Department where she is now being treated. Kirah Forman was brought in from San Pedro, and she, along with a team from ECOMAR and the Fisheries Department began the rehabilitation process for the animal. Kirah Forman explained this process to us.
Kirah Foreman - Hol Chan Marine Reserve
"And here we have an adult female hawksbill turtle that we found stranded two days ago in Hopkins village. So we have her here for a bit of rehabilitation."
Jules Vasquez
"How is her condition? What is her health like?"
Kirah Foreman - Hol Chan Marine Reserve
"Her condition is very good compared to yesterday. Yesterday she looked very weak; she wasn't moving much, so we kept her in very little water for the overnight. We tried rehydrating her using saline, and this morning she is moving around. Her eyes are opened well, and we've cleaned off all the barnacles and the stuff that she had on her. So she looks like she is going to recover very quickly. We are going to take her to San Pedro for rehab, and we are probably going to put her on a little bit of antibiotics and probably on some vitamins to get her health back. Sea turtles are important for our tourism industry, so it is important that we make sure, you know, that we have a healthy population of turtles within our waters. Traditionally turtles are for food, so it has been a food source, but the fishing pressure and the low numbers of turtles - people need to realize, yes, it might be a food source for them, but it has more importance for the tourism industry and for the ecosystem in general. I work a lot with sea turtles and they are just very amazing to watch when you think they could live hundreds of years. You see a large one you think that the turtle might be 50, 60, 70 years old and to see just gracefully moving about, it's amazing to watch - to look at."
By the way it is also illegal to hunt or sell turtle meat.
The turtle will remain in Belize City over the weekend and will then be transported to San Pedro for continued rehabilitation until she is strong enough to return to the sea.
