Twelve rehabilitated endangered turtles released into Dubai waters

A mix of hawksbills and green turtles were returned to the wild at Jumeirah Al Naseem

Twelve turtles, a mix of hawksbills and greens, have been returned to the wild after being cared for by the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

Carers help them back to the sea

The goal of the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project is to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured turtles in the Arabian Gulf

The UAE is home to thousands of sea turtles, and many more travel through the Arabian Gulf due to their migratory behaviour

The turtles face threats including hunting, climate change and plastic pollution

One of the released turtles is named Tangle after he was rescued from a plastic sack that was dragging him down

Once rescued, the marine animals are tended to by the aquarium team at Burj Al Arab

They are then transferred to one of the five turtle rehabilitation lagoons at Jumeirah Al Naseem, where they are prepared for an eventual release to the wild

The Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project, founded in 2014, has so far released 2,109 turtles

The project tends to an average of 100 turtles every year

Twelve turtles rehabilitated in Dubai have been released back into the wild.

Hawksbills and green turtles were part of the release, which took place on the beach of Jumeirah Al Naseem on Wednesday. It is part of the long-running care programme led by the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project.

“We have so far rehabilitated 2,109 turtles of four different species, all of them endangered,” says Barbara Lang-Lenton, director of the Burj Al Arab aquarium, who is leading the project.

It started in 2014 and focuses on rescue, rehabilitation and release. The rescue element is undertaken by both professionals and members of the public who encounter distressed or troubled turtles on the shores or waters around the UAE.

Speaking to The National at the event, Lang-Lenton explains how many turtles brought in are entangled in fishing lines, while others are malnourished, injured or threatened by man-made factors such as hunting and coastal development. One of the biggest threats, she says, is single-use plastics that end up in the ocean.

“Pretty much every turtle that we receive, regardless of their ailments, has plastic debris in their digestive systems,” she says.

One of the turtles released is called Tangle, named after the plastic sack that was dragging him down before he was rescued. Another is Captain Jack Sparrow, which only has one eye.

“Captain Jack Sparrow was found just off the Mina A'Salam shore by one of our lifeguards last September,” she says, explaining how the turtle was malnourished and missing large parts of its lower and upper mandible (jaw bones), as well as an eye. She says the eye injury was probably caused by a fishing hook.

Turtle rehabilitation in the UAE

Once rescued, the animals are treated by the aquarium team at Burj Al Arab and monitored closely. They are then transferred to one of the five rehabilitation lagoons at Jumeirah Al Naseem, where they are allowed to recover before being returned to the wild.

Lang-Lenton says the group tend to more than 100 turtles every year, reaching up to 300 during one particularly busy 12 months. There are currently around seven turtles in care.

“As soon as the turtles are ready to go, we release them,” she says.

Aside from the turtles' health, releases, which happen year-round apart from peak summer or winter, are also dependent on the conditions of the ocean. Wednesday's was the last scheduled to take place this year.

Some rescued turtles stay at the facility for only a few weeks, while others take up to two years to fully recover.

The UAE is home to five of the world's seven turtle species – hawksbill, loggerhead, green, leatherback and olive ridley; the only two not found are flatback and Kemp's ridley. Thousands of turtles live in UAE waters, and many others pass through because of their migratory behaviour.

“The work we do here has a global impact because turtles are migratory species. Some of these animals are fitted with satellite transmitters so we know where they are going to go next,” says Lang-Lenton.

Some of the released turtles stay in the Arabian Gulf, but most travel far beyond. One turtle let go in Fujairah swam to Thailand, 7,402 nautical kilometres away.

Lang-Lenton highlights the importance of “spreading the word” when it comes to rehabilitation, especially with the significant numbers of marine animals in the Arabian Gulf.

“Be mindful that these animals have been with us since the time of the dinosaurs, and in the last 200 years, we have reduced their population by 80 per cent and it's mostly human-caused,” she says.