Colona Liveaboards

The turtle had been dead for several days before getting beached on Phuket’s Patong Beach.

PATONG, PHUKET: A sea turtle was found dead on Patong Beach in front of Impiana Phuket Cabana Resort & Spa about 6am on Saturday.

The olive ridley turtle, found by members of the hotel staff, measured about 50cm long by 43cm wide.

Marine Biologist Phaothep Cherdsukjai from the Phuket Marine Biological Center at Cape Panwa said he expected “the turtle died as a result of getting caught in a trawl and was dead for many days before getting beached.”

“The carcass will be buried right away because it is greatly decayed. Examination can reveal nothing,” he said.

Disappearance of yet another sea turtle is bad news for swimmers: the animals are immune to the sting of box jellyfish or sea wasps, which thus form an important part of the turtles’ diet.

Box jellyfish, while common in tropical waters, are extremely venomous and can kill humans.

Gradual extinction of the turtles contributes to a dangerous proliferation of their numbers.

An olive ridley turtle missing its right flipper was found floating in the sea off Kata Beach last month.

For our previous report, click here.

– Atchaa Khamlo

This olive ridley turtle, missing a flipper, was found floating off Phuket’s Kata Beach yesterday evening.

The young green turtle found washed up on Kata Beach this morning.

KATA, PHUKET: Two stricken turtles have been found in Phuket over the past two days.

Fishermen found an injured olive ridley turtle missing its front-right flipper floating in the sea off Kata Beach yesterday evening.

Dr Patcharaporn Kaewmong, a Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) vet, said the turtle was hit by a boat motor, severing the flipper.

The roughly 15-year-old female turtle’s shell had also been damaged in the incident.

“She is seriously injured and has picked up an infection now. We’ve given her vitamins, sedatives and antibiotics,” Dr Patcharaporn said.

The PMBC would need to nurse the turtle for several months before it could survive on its own in the sea again, she said.

“We see a lot of turtles injured by boats and fishing equipment. We need everyone to help us keep turtles safe by not dumping fishing nets and plastic bags in the sea,” Dr Patcharaporn added.

A second sick turtle was found on Kata Beach this morning.

Around 8am, a young green turtle around five years old and weighing 8 kilograms washed up on the beach.

The turtle had no visible injuries.

“We couldn’t find anything wrong with it on the outside, so it probably has a disease,” Dr Patcharaporn said.

The PMBC gave the turtle sedatives and antibiotics because it couldn’t swim and was hardly moving, she said.

The turtle would require a blood test and X-ray to determine what was wrong with it, she said.

So far this month more than 10 turtles have washed up on Phuket’s beaches.

The large waves common during the monsoon season mean more turtles are injured around this time of year than during other periods.

On average, the PMBC treats around 30 turtles washed up on the shores of Phuket each year, though many more will wash up but go unreported.

– Khunakorn Terdkiatkhachorn