Lifeguards on duty near the Centara Grand West Sands Resort helped cut the turtle free before calling in marine environment officials. Rescue workers attached to the Phuket Coastal Resources Research Development Institute were soon on the scene and took the injured creature back to their institute for treatment.
A spokesperson said later the olive ridley had only sustained a cut flipper and would remain at the institute until it had recovered enough to be taken out to sea again. The spokesperson noted that the turtle could have been caught up in the net for up to three days before the lifeguards rescued it.
Olive ridleys were once common sightings along the west coast of Phuket and southern Thailand’s Andaman Sea shoreline. They are scarcer now as resort developments have encroached on the beaches where they used to lay their eggs. Ecologists also say a significant number perish every year due to getting snarled up in fishing nets and being unable to free themselves.
Sea turtle cut out of fishing net on Phuket beach
News in Asia
Lifeguards at one of Phuket Island’s beaches rescued an olive ridley sea-turtle on Monday afternoon. The creature washed up on Mai Khao Beach with a fishing net wrapped tightly around one of its flippers.