Yesterday afternoon an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) Patrol Vessel, P32, out on patrol, recovered two wounded Sea-Turtles.
The AFM said that the Gozo Based Patrol Vessel encountered a wounded Loggerhead sea turtle close to Dwejra. While on its way to hand over the turtle to Nature Trust Malta, a recovery of another injured sea turtle close to Gnejna was reported to the AFM Operations Centre.
It resulted that a private yacht, had earlier recovered the wounded sea turtle and eventually handed over the marine create to the crew of P32. Both sea turtles were later delivered to MEPA and Nature Trust at Cirkewwa Quay.
These are currently being taken care of by professionals in the field. Marine conservation and Maritime Law enforcement duties are some of the duties that the AFM patrol vessels carry out at sea.
This is the second time this week that P32 was involved in the recovery of injured animals were it saved an injured Greater Flamingo close to Bahar ic-Caghaq.
The Armed Forces of Malta said that it encourages the sea faring community at large to respect the natural habitat of marine creatures and report any occurrence that endangers marine ecosystems.
Photo by AFM shows one of the Loggerhead turtles onboard the Gozo based P32.