The initials engraved on the carapace. Tortured turtle, rescued by fisherman

There are those who have fun like this, carving the carapace of a turtle with a blade, branding it with letters, perhaps initials, until it bleeds. The luck of this Caretta carettaparadoxically, was to get entangled in the nets of a fisherman from Cesenatico, “one of ours” they say Saurus And Alice Equal, of the Cetacean Foundation of Riccione. She warned them and they rushed to retrieve her and take her to the clinic of the non-profit organization of Romagna, where she was immediately examined. The year called Elettra: “The vet confirmed what seemed clear to us right away – says Alice Pari – it is a wound inflicted a couple of days ago. She is a female of about 20, it is probable that she ended up on the net precisely because she is debilitated ”.

They call it one of those ‘lucky misfortunes’ because “the fisherman is sensitive and collaborates with us for the Life Medturtles project for the conservation of sea turtles”. According to Pari, these are healable wounds, but which, if left untreated, could have led to discomfort, infections, even septicemia. For a wild animal, it can mean the difference between life and death. The vets are at work to treat her and restore her strength, before being able to release her again: “It will take time for the wounds to heal, and to do this we will have to keep her out of salt water for a certain period – underlines Sauro Pari – this complicates things a bit because it is its natural element”.

“An aberrant gesture. We will report”

What worries most is the gesture, the torture, a gratuitous suffering inflicted on a defenseless animal that is unable to show pain: “It is an aberrant thing – continues Sauro Pari – the concept of branding an animal in that way, as if to say ‘you’re mine and I’ll do what I want’. It must be someone with serious problems. These marine animals do not show suffering with cries of pain, even more so it is a form of barbarism, the lack of knowledge and concern for something foreign to you”. In recent years, the Caretta caretta have started to go up the Adriatic also to nest. In the summer of 2019, “Lucianona” had spawned on Pesaro beach, the northernmost brood ever recorded up to that point. Then, two years later, that of Jesolo arrived.

The veterinary response will be included in the file with the complaint that the Cetacean Foundation will present to the Cites forestry Carabinieri, the Caretta caretta are in fact a species protected by the Washington convention. “We are shaken – concludes Pari – we have never seen anything like it here in our parts. We have to say once again thanks to the fisherman who brought it ashore, which unfortunately is not a given”. Cetacea Foundation is based in Riccione, in its hospital 15 turtles are currently hospitalized, last year they rescued and hospitalized about forty specimens. After treatment, they are set free in the Adriatic.

Defenseless, target of cruelty

Marine plastics that poison and suffocate them were not enough, like the nets of fishermen or farms in which they remain entangled until they drown. Turtles also have to contend with those who make them the target of bloody and senseless gestures. This is just the latest case. In January, in Barletta, some Caretta caretta were found tied to a boulder or to the steel disc of a brake to prevent them from breathing again, so they drowned. There were five episodes in all, so much so as to suspect a turtle serial killer. The same fate of Gaetana, probably killed with an oar blow and then tied to a stone to make her sink, in 2017. Also in January, in La Spezia, a young man was reported for having killed a turtle that lived in a city park . In April 2022, in Rome, several turtles of the Trachemys species were killed in an equally bloody way, the shell smashed with stones.