Turtle finds its sea legs

HOMEWARD BOUND: Pupils accompany Ifac to the beach.

IFAC, a 25-kilo turtle is back in the sea where it belongs.

It was rescued by fishermen after becoming entangled in their nets and taken to the Centro ARCA at the Oceanografic Aquarium in Valencia City to recover from decompression sickness.

Two months later ARCA specialists decided that the turtle, an adult female, was fully recovered and could return to the sea. This turtle has an important role in the centre’s loggerheads project, ARCA said, as it is vital to impress on the public – and particularly the very young – that it is essential to protect the marine environment. 

With this in mind, 100 second-year primary pupils from Calpe’s Paternina and Olta schools were invited to assist in returning Ifac, named in honour of the town’s famous landmark, to the sea. 

The turtle was fitted with a monitoring device to follow its movements, health and adaptation to its surroundings.

Loggerhead turtles are resistant animals, the ARCA centre’s biologists told the children, they survive easily and do not need to remain in a group.

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