The Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) collaborated with the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo to release 40 endangered sea turtles into the Arabian Gulf at Jumeirah Al Naseem.
For the past three years, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo has supported the DTRP and this year raised awareness of the project by hosting five of the turtles as part of their rehabilitation process.
The four juvenile hawksbills and one amputee juvenile green turtle named Jane were displayed in a large exhibit to raise awareness about the plight of the sea turtles in the region and also to promote the project via literature around the exhibit. In support of the project and research, Dubai Mall Aquarium purchased five satellite tags for the turtles to enable the team to track their progress in the wild.
Burj Al Arab Jumeirah aquarium operations manager Warren Baverstock said: “The exhibit at Dubai Mall, which highlights DTRP’s rehabilitation efforts is designed to educate the many visitors to Dubai Mall on the plight of these turtles. After a month rehabilitation period, the turtles were returned to the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah aquarium, fitted with a satellite tag and then released back into the Arabian Gulf. Their movements can now be monitored and followed on Facebook.”
All sea turtles displayed were rescued by the DTRP-based at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah and Madinat Jumeirah. The project is run in conjunction with the Wildlife Protection Office and is the only one of its kind in the Middle East and Red Sea region.
More than 1,300 sea turtles have been successfully returned to the sea over the past 10 years since the project’s inception. The turtles have all been rescued from the shores of the UAE and nursed back to health by the DTRP one of the longest standing corporate social responsibility initiatives in the region and the only project of its kind in the Middle East and Red Sea region.
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