Alex Trelinski
CHILDREN from Benidorm’s Bautista Lledo primary school witnessed a rescued loggerhead turtle return to the sea at the city’s Poniente beach on Friday.
The turtle, named Lledo in honour of the school, was spotted in difficulty by fishermen off the coast of Burriana in Castellon province.
Lledo weighing in at 31 kilos was taken to the Oceanografic Institute in Valencia where experts carried out tests on him.
They discovered that he was suffering from a gas embolism where air escapes from the lungs into the blood vessels or nitrogen bubbles can form in the blood vessels.
The potentially fatal condition was sorted by placing Lledo into a hyberbaric oxygen chamber which increased the air pressure.
After making a full recovery, Benidorm was chosen as a release point for the turtle.
Besides the 150 school children, the event was watched by dozens of people along the Paseo de Poniente.
Attendees include Benidorm mayor, Toni Perez, who thanked the Oceanografic institute for choosing the city to host Lledo’s return to his home.
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