Another two loggerhead turtles released!

On the morning of 26^th November 2020, Fondazione Cetacea brought back into the sea two turtles, Giuseppe and Alessandra.

The first one is a young Caretta caretta recovered on 20 August 2020 by ENPA Lagosanto, which form Delta Rescue association, together with Fondazione Cetacea, AICS Settore Ambiente Emilia Romagna, Sailing Club Lido Di Volano, Corpo dei Vigili Giurati of Goro, and Polizia Provinciale of Ferrara.

Delta Rescue association works for the protection of sea turtles in Ferrara, by intervening on the many stranding sea turtles (dead and alive) in this territory.

When it arrived, Giuseppe had his skull crushed probably by the impact with a ship. The turtle has been visited by our veterinarian of the First Aid Center of Goro, Giulia Bondesan, and then hospitalized in Riccione. After months of care, it recovered completely.

The second sea turtle, Alessandra is a Caretta caretta hospitalized for over two years at our Center (it has also arrived from Ferrara on August 11^th 2018, rescued by volunteers on site) with serious head trauma, a fracture on the carapace, and a hook in the esophagus. After very advanced specialist treatment and physiotherapy, Alessandra was released back into the sea on September 22^nd in Pesaro, after a short but decisive period in the Caletta for rehabilitation, when the veterinarians decided that it was ready to return autonomous and free into the sea. Alessandra has gone away slowly but determined and we hoped not to see it again until, on 8^th October we were contacted by the Capitaneria di Porto of Ancona: Alessandra has been rescued, again, in the port by some of our supporters, in order to avoid impacts with the ships.

A premise is necessary: Alessandra remains a turtle with a handicap, but its serious wounds have healed and thanks to the hard work of so many people is no longer the catatonic animal that arrived over 2 years ago, that was fed by a probe and spent all the time floating with its classic posture « with the bottom up ». Now Alessandra is a reactive animal and in the water, it has shown that it can hunt and manage on its own. In addition, our veterinarians, who visited it after its return to the Centre, have seen further improvements: hence the decision to release it again, so as not to risk another winter in the tank could compromise the developments that it did.

The two turtles have been brought more than seven miles from the coast near the platforms, where they will find more fish to eat and better water temperatures.

But the two « places » left free by Giuseppe and Alessandra, unfortunately, have already been occupied by two other turtles, recovered this morning at the port of Cesenatico after an accidental catch in the nets of two fishing vessels, RIMAS and RICCI, who immediately contacted us to evaluate their health conditions. We thanks them for their cooperation, a further demonstration that good communication with professional fishermen is vital for early intervention on animals in difficulty.