Caretta caretta rescued from buoy in Turkey’s Bodrum resort

MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency

Fishermen rescued a caretta caretta turtle that was tied to a buoy with a fish line in a Turkish resort in Bodrum on July 30.

The incident occurred in Bodrum’s Milas district. A 42-year-old fisherman, Güray Dıngıl, went fishing with his three friends who came from Istanbul to Bodrum for holiday. He noticed a buoy which was floating in the Asıl bay located between Milas and Bodrum’s center.

When they got closer to the buoy they realized a caretta caretta was tied from one of its flippers to the buoy with a fish line.

Fishermen rescued the caretta caretta weighing 40 kilograms after untying the fish lines. Dıngıl took the caretta caretta to his boat and released it back to the sea again after freeing it from the fish lines tangled to its body.

“We have saved the poor animal and freed it again. I thank the coast guard team who discovered the situation and started an investigation to find who is responsible. It cannot be people who do that. There is only one thing to say to this person: ‘Be human,’” he added.

On March 12, an unconscious caretta caretta turtle that came ashore in the Aegean province of Muğla has been saved by locals.

Local walkers noticed the stranded caretta caretta on land in the Yalancıboğaz area of Muğla’s Marmaris district, after which they informed the Environmental Association of Marmaris.