[Continued]

Just like Taco, Chomper is an adult male Olive Ridley turtle who was found tangled in a fishing net with lacerations to his right flippers along with algae and barnacles on his carapace. Unlike Taco, Chomper’s injuries are not as severe and he was only diagnosed with turtle buoyancy syndrome when he was rescued.

Audrey and Rafaela, the centre’s marine biologists, treating Chomper to a turtle spa. Source: Author’s photo

Thus, under the watchful eye of the centre’s marine biologists who administer round-the-clock care to their turtle patients from feeding them medicine, providing them with frequent ‘turtle sand spas’ to curb the growth of barnacles and other organisms on their flippers and carapace and tending to their wounds and fungal infections, Chomper’s condition greatly improved! He gradually became healthy and active enough to begin temporarily living in the large outdoor enclosure for 2 months where he learned how to rest on the bottom netting and dive again. Check out the video below of Chomper swimming and diving in the outdoor enclosure.

Source: Screen capture from Marine Savers on Instagram.

After 2 years at the rehabilitation centre, Chomper was finally given the green light to be released back into the wild on 5th April 2020! While his story may be an uplifting one, it was also largely due to the fact that he did not spend much time trapped in the ghost net before being rescued. Others such as Taco were not as fortunate, and this should serve as a poignant reminder of how humans have the onus to consider the ramifications of our pollutive actions as marine litter has disastrous implications not just on marine life but also marine ecosystems.