Red Sea Diving College Sharm El Sheikh

Red Sea Diving College are pleased to report that the hawksbill turtle now known as Dave, having been affectionately christened by the staff at the College who have become very attached to him over the last few weeks, is back to full health and has been released back into the wild.Dave will already be known to many divers who have dived in the Red Sea at Ras Mohammed, where he has been a regular around Shark and Yolanda reefs for some years. Dave is easily recognized, as a portion of his rear shell was missing above his right flipper from an old injury.

For the last few weeks this regular to the area had been noticed only by his absence. It came to the attention of James Tunney on the16th of January this year what had happened to him. Dave was found towards the end of last year with new injuries to his shell caused by a collision with a boat propeller. He was found by divers from Sinai Divers, taken from the bottom and handed over to the Ras Mohammed National Park for safe keeping. The Park did what they could to treat the wounds, but not having a suitable pool available, asked if Dolphinella (not the most popular place with divers in Sharm) could accommodate it.
The resident doctor, Alexander, ensured that the wound was kept clean and Dave the turtle was first placed in a small kids play pool and an attempt was made to feed it once using sea grass but without success. The pool was broken by Dave and the turtle’s next destination was a kids’ inflatable boat filled with water to only half way up the turtle’s shell exposing the upper portion of the shell to the day’s sun. The next stop was to a larger pool but with the same level of water and still no midday shade. At this point all concerned thought they were doing the right thing simply keeping the wound dry and clean. No further attempts were made to feed him, as they thought it was normal not to eat, that the turtle was simply in hibernation, as with a tortoise. It is true that Turtles can go for long periods without food if well fattened, and not injured or feeling sick when they need their strength most!
Unfortunately during this time the turtle was becoming weaker by the day, not helped by the severe drop in the pools’ water temperature, as low as 11 degrees at night, which for a hawksbill turtle is hypothermic and hinders its recovery. Miss Eman Aly, zoologist and environmental researcher at the Sinai Protectorates Wildlife Unit, was concerned about the deteriorating condition of Dave and asked Dr. Ahmed at the Sharm Hyperbaric Chamber if he knew of anyone who could help. Dr. Ahmed put her in contact with James Tunney of the Red Sea Diving College, as he was aware of the College’s previous work for, and interest in, environmental issues. The Red Sea Diving College immediately rose to the challenge by arranging a meeting between James Tunney and Miss Eman Aly to see the turtle, and getting the local vet, Patrick Olbrechts, to look at the turtle. Although not an expert in this field, it was easy to see that the turtle was in an unhealthy state, made all the more serious by the conditions in which he was being kept, the initial wound now being the least of its current problems. The College staff and Patrick then turned to the Internet for help and advice, contacting several turtle centres and specialist doctors in the field of turtle rehabilitation. Through the fantastic work of Project Aware, Marine Connection and other organisations passing on the need for help, offers of help and assistance from around the world were quickly flooding in.