The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Turtle finds TLC on banks of Loch Lomond
A sea turtle has a new home in Scotland after being found injured and entangled in a plastic bag in the Maldives.
April, an olive ridley sea turtle, was at the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre after being found injured in Raa Atoll in April 2019.
She had been found floating in the Indian Ocean entangled in netting with a plastic bag around her neck.
April was missing her right front flipper because of the netting, her left front flipper had been injured by the plastic bag and she had a lung infection, with possible tears in her lungs.
Vets found she suffers from buoyancy issues – she cannot fully immerse herself under water – and cannot returned to the wild.
The turtle has been relocated 5,000 miles to Loch Lomond, making her the first olive ridley sea turtle in the UK.
Two Maldives-based environmental agencies, Reefscapers And Marine Savers, as well as the UK’s Sea Life aquarium business and its conservation charity the Sea Life Trust, teamed up with IAG Cargo to fly April to her new home.
Kathryn Angel, Sea Life Loch Lomond’s general manager, said: “April suffered injuries as a result of plastic pollution so by having April on site, children can actually see the impact that plastic pollution can have on the creatures first hand.”