Local vets unable to save Koh Pha Ngan green sea turtle

The injured green sea turtle washed ashore on Koh Pha Ngan on Friday night died of its injuries, according to the local vets who were unable to save the injured chelonian.

Quickly on the scene, a group of conservation volunteers, Phangan Sea Guardians, was alerted by villagers who came across the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) on Chaloklum Beach and rushed to the scene.

The conservationists and workers from Than Sadet National Park tried to help the animal but could do little to improve its condition. The turtle was taken to a research centre in Chumphon but died during the journey.

A veterinarian at the centre said that the turtle appeared malnourished and may have sustained the injury about a month ago, leaving it unable to eat as the neck wound was probably infected as well. The turtle is thought to have been about 30 years old and weighed 51kg.

The green sea turtle’s range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but it is also found in the Indian Ocean. The common name refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, not to the colour of its carapace, which is olive to black.

There have been many reports of turtles dying on Thailand’s beaches this year. A 20 year old female was found on Kinnaree Beach last month and sent to the navy’s turtle conservation centre for examination. The centre added did not know how long the turtle had been dead but the plastic waste it consumed had killed it.