MYRTLE, the loggerhead turtle found three months ago at Curium beach suffering severe injuries, was pronounced dead yesterday, just days after being returned to seawater for rehabilitation.
The fisherman who found Myrtle had taken her to the Cyprus Defence Animal Support Centre, where she was nursed back to health by British military vet, Captain Ian Moran, whose only previous contact with turtles had been to perform post mortems on two that had been found already dead. Myrtle’s injuries – thought to have been caused by a speedboat – had included a broken jaw, an extremely swollen left eye as well as deep cuts to her head, flippers and shell. Capt Moran grew extremely attached to the turtle, having spent many hours nurturing her, under the advice of Cypriot marine biologist Andreas Demetropoulos and Senior Veterinary Officer Chief Vet at London Zoo, Tony Sainsbury. After a long course of treatment, Myrtle began to thrive in her new environment. And as she seemed well on the road to recovery, Capt Moran decided to hand the Loggerhead over to Sagra Agriculture, a fish hatchery near Paphos, for rehabilitation.
Myrtle was released into a 40,000-litre seawater tank – her new home, under the charge of Demetropoulos. Though he had 25 years of experience and had successfully rehabilitated turtles in the past, Demetropoulos agreed that the next week would be “crucial”, as the turtle had not been eating properly and had lost much muscle mass, thus becoming over-buoyant and finding it difficult to move. Nevertheless, both he and Capt Moran remained optimistic.
They were sadly proved wrong, however, when Myrtle was found dead, floating upside down in her tank.
“The report I received yesterday was that she was doing well, diving for food which was obviously fantastic, a positive sign,” said Moran. “It is most likely that when diving for food during the night she flipped belly up and because she had lost body weight and was over buoyant she couldn’t right herself. I feel gutted. I was going to see her this afternoon. It has rather taken the shine off my week. It really is a bit depressing to say the least.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
