Kenyan NGO Rescues Turtles from Fishing Nets: A small nonprofit on the Kenyan coast is protecting thousands of turtles in the area from poachers, fishing nets, and the growing amount of plastic waste.
Heaving the massive loggerhead sea turtle into the back of a car on the beach of the coastal town of Watamu requires four guys.
Following her rescue from a fishing tackle, she will be weighed, tagged, and released back into the ocean after being examined for injuries at a nearby clinic.
Local Ocean Conservation (LOC), an NGO in Kenya, has been performing this role for nearly thirty years and has conducted approximately twenty-four thousand rescues.
It brings me immense joy each time I release a turtle. Fikiri Kiponda, 47, who has been with LOC’s about 20-person workforce for 16 years, stated, “My motivation keeps getting stronger and stronger.”
A group of volunteers who detested witnessing the animals being devoured or killed in nets founded LOC in 1997.
But “perceptions have significantly changed” as a result of the charity’s awareness programs in villages and schools, Kiponda said.
LOC, which is primarily funded by donations, pays fishermen to bring them injured turtles.
The organisation emphasises that over 1,000 fisherman take part in the program, and that they mostly do it for conservation purposes because the payout does not make up for the hours of labor that are lost.
According to Lameck Maitha, 34, health coordinator at the NGO’s local clinic, turtles are frequently treated for tumors brought on by a condition known as fibropapillomatosis and shattered bones.
One of the current in-patients is Safari, a juvenile Olive Ridley turtle from farther up the coast who is about 15 years old. Turtles can live up to 100 years.
She was barely alive when she arrived, and a bone that had to be cut from her flipper was probably there because she had fought to escape a fisherman’s net.
According to the clinic, Safari has been recuperating nicely and will soon be able to go back to the water.
Barnacles, which attach themselves to shells and flippers, weaken their host and are another common issue for turtles.
A blockage caused by eating plastic can produce gas, which prevents a turtle from diving and causes it to float.
To empty the turtle’s system in these situations, the clinic administers laxatives.
“We are seeing more and more floating turtles because the ocean has so much plastic,” Maitha stated.
Protecting 50 to 100 nesting places that are in danger due to sea level rise is another goal of LOC.
Turtles, despite their extensive travels, typically deposit their eggs on the beach where they hatched, with Watamu being one of the most popular locations.
Every three or four years, they deposit hundreds of eggs, which hatch after approximately 60 days and spread out over several months in various sessions.
The nonprofit frequently moves eggs that were deposited too near the ocean.
Joey Ngunu, the technical manager at LOC and a marine biologist, always calls Kevin first.
“And once Kevin comes out, the rest follow,” he continued, grinning, referring to the sluggish, awkward parade to the water, which is best done at night to minimize predators.
Just one person out of every thousand develops into a 20–25 year old adult.
Living in the water must be incredibly challenging for a turtle. You have to deal with many threats, including fish and poachers, as well as human pressure from commercial fishing and plastic,” he said.
