Phuket Lifeguard Service Chief Prathaiyut Chuayuan told The Phuket News that, “this morning, lifeguards found a turtle which had washed up on Nai Yang Beach. The turtle’s leg and body were trapped in a fishing net. Lifeguards took some time to cut the fishing net with a nail clipper until the turtle could be freed. Then the turtle quickly swam back out to sea.”
“The turtle did not get any serious injuries to its body. If the turtle had been injured, we would have called officials from the Phuket Marine Biology Centre (PMBC) to come and assist us,” he added.
“This monsoon season, we have seen turtles washed up on the beach many times,” noted Chief Prathaiyut.
Director of the PMBC Dr Kongkiet Kittiwattanwong congratulated the Lifeguards for freeing the trapped turtle, “it was a hawksbill sea turtle, about a foot long, and luckily it didn’t have any serious injuries. Thank you to the Phuket lifeguards who saved this turtle.”
Just last month on June 8 another sea turtle was found trapped in a discarded fishing net off Nai Yang Beach. The turtle was rescued by PMBC officials but did not recover from the wounds it sustained and died from an infection two days later (see story here).
Dr Kongkiet decried the huge amounts of human garbage that makes its way into the waters around Phuket.
“Marine animals such as dolphins and turtles regularly die because of trash put in the ocean by humans. Trash in the ocean is one of the biggest problems facing marine animals,” he said.
If you discover a marine animal in distress or trapped in plastic or fishing nets please, contact the Phuket Marine Biology Centre (PMBC) on 076-391-128.