MARGAO
A group of tourists from Brazil, along with Benaulim-based fisherman Pele Fernandes, rescued two sea turtles while they were on a dolphin trip in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday morning.
The Brazilian tourists lent a helping hand to the fishermen to rescue the turtles entangled in ghost fishing nets amidst waste and trash, before they were brought ashore and administered treatment by the Forest officials.
Fisherman Pele told the media that he and a group of Brazilian tourists were on a dolphin trip when he spotted trash floating in the sea. “I told my workers to divert the sports boat towards the trash, only to find two sea turtles entangled in the fishing net. The Brazilian visitors lent their helping hand to rescue the entangled turtles,” he said.
After the team reached ashore with the turtles, Pele immediately called up the Colva Police station in-charge, PI Ritesh Tari, to inform the forest officials to administer first aid to the turtles.
One of the Brazilian tourists told the media on the Benaulim shore that they lent their assistance to the rescue operation since they had been exposed to turtle rescue back home.
Saying it was God’s plan for him and the tourists to rescue the turtles, Pele said, “We were heading on a dolphin trip where we could see a pile of trash, only to find the struggling turtles.”
Pele made a fervent plea to the fishermen as well as tourists not to abandon their nets and plastic and other waste in the sea, saying it can prove dangerous to marine life.
Of the two rescued sea turtles, one has sustained leg injuries. The turtles were later treated by the forest officials before their release back into the sea.
