| A happy ending to Dave the turtles' sad story
On 17th January 2007, Marine Connection received a call from James Tunney of Red Sea Diving College in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt where we run a "See Red!" campaign. Supporters of the Marine Connection, Red Sea Diving College were ringing with an unexpected query - do you know how to fix a turtle's shell?? Well, although not ordinarily the Marine Connection's remit, being a dolphin and whale protection charity, we were keen to help and contacted various colleagues in the hope that someone would be able to assist.
It turns out in the end that "Dave" the hawksbill turtle, as he is known locally, received all the help he needed, making an excellent recovery and has now been released back into the diverse environment of the Red Sea.
The turtle was initially discovered having been hit by a boat propeller at the end of 2006 and kept in children's paddling pools, this lack of facilities and knowledge of how to treat the animal meant his health slowly deteriorated. James Tunney of Red Sea Diving College became aware of the plight of the turtle on 16th January 2007 and quickly jumped into action calling Marine Connection, Project Aware and other organisations to rally some help and information.
All the assistance James received stated that the turtle required warmer waters and the proper feeding to rebuild strength and aid the healing process. With assistance from Miss Eman Aly of Sinai Protectorates Wildlife Unit and the permission and cooperation of the Ras Mohammed National Park, Red Sea Diving College organised a staff day out to make an appropriately large and strong enclosed area on the beach and into the sea for the turtle. Fourteen staff from Red Sea College gave their time and energies to care for and rehabilitate the turtle in order that it could be released back into the wild.
Dave was making a fantastic recovery with the wound healing and his strength increasing all the time. The next step was to make a cast of his shell thus enabling Dave to have a fibreglass shell made, to cover the affected area before his release. As the turtle's wound heals from within, the fibreglass cover will at some point come free.
 Dave the turtle was released on 3rd February 2007, receiving a great send off from the Red Sea Diving College staff that were instrumental in his rehabilitation, Miss Eman Aly from the Wildlife Unit, Ras Mohammed National Park and other members of the Ras Mohammed National Park. James Tunney reported that "…he surfaced several times for air before turning and coming straight to the camera, as if to say goodbye, before swimming off in the direction of Shark Reef his old stomping ground."
The Marine Conenction would like to applaud James Tunney and the staff at Red Sea College as well as the others involved who went to great lengths to rescue and release this wild hawksbill turtle - one of all seven species of marine turtle which is endangered in the wild.
Good luck Dave!
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