Team Herald
COLVA: An Olive Ridley turtle was rescued at Colva beach by a team of Drishti lifeguards posted there, on Wednesday evening. The team reportedly acted on a tip off from an animal lover.
“At around 4.30 pm, an animal lover informed our lifeguards that a huge Olive Ridley turtle has washed off on Colva beach, at a distance of around 200 mtrs, south of the lifeguard tower and the same is entangled in fishing net. The informant also said that some locals were trying to take away the turtle for meat after hiding it under palm leaves,” informed Gulabal, in-charge of Drishti for South Goa.
“We searched for the turtle for about half an hour, but we could not locate it. Then we saw a heap of palm and other leaves away from the beach towards sand dunes. After clearing the leaves, we found the turtle entangled in fishing nets and had an injury on the left front fin. We had to cut the nets to rescue the turtle,” informed life guards Santosh Tandel, Amol Nanavare and Nitesh Bait, the trio who actually rescued the turtle.
The turtle is around two and half feet long and weight around 45 kg. The wildlife rescue squad was also alerted which later in the evening shifted the turtle for medical treatment. The turtle will be released into the sea only after it recovers from injury, informed the wildlife rescue squad.
