BUENOS AIRES –
Marine biologists in Argentina who brought two green turtles back to the ocean were rescued after they became entangled in fishing nets, with one of the endangered species emitting plastic from the sea.
The turtles spent a month in an animal rehabilitation camp at Fundación Mundo Marino, where scientists tested their swimming abilities, put them on a diet and gave them a chance to detox from plastic. They were brought back to the sea on San Clemente beach.
“The turtles arrived, they were released into the pools and their swimming was measured to see if they were normal,” said Vanesa Traverso, a biologist at the foundation.
“They’re herbivores so we fed them algae and one of them started to release plastic, luckily it wasn’t too much. About 96 percent of the turtles that come into the center release plastic.”
The green sea turtles, which are classified as endangered, have undergone blood tests and even X-rays to examine their digestive tract and lungs. Some people had previously visited the center and discharged up to 22 grams of ingested garbage.
Bianca Mancini, the organization’s veterinarian, said: ‘One of them had a high white blood cell count and several parameters indicated a mild level of anemia. “We treated it with a mixture of antibiotics, a vitamin and iron complex.”
(Reporting by Horacio Soria; Writing by Adam Jourdan; editing by Diane Craft)
