Alex Trelinski
TWO rescued loggerhead turtles have been released into the sea some 30 miles off the Costa Blanca shore.
The two specimens were found off the coasts of Burriana and Vinaros in Castellon Province earlier in the autumn.
One of them was accidentally caught in a fisherman’s net and the other got entangled in raffia.
The Guardia Civil’s ‘Rio Oja’ boat took them out to sea on Tuesday accompanied by members of the Valencian Oceanografic Foundation.
The turtles, weighing in at 37 and 4 kilos respectively, were cared for by the Foundation and nurtured to a full recovery.
Loggerheads can weigh up to 200 kilos and are migratory ocean animals.
Their main threat are plastics and rubbish dumped in the sea along with fishing nets and traps.
Alicante’s Guardia Civil monitors abandoned nets and potential sea pollution as part of their work in protecting the marine environment.
Turtles often appear on beaches and the Guardia have appealed for people not to touch them but to call emergency services so that experts can go to the scene and take in the animal.
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