This release has to be the most rewarding turtle release to date. 75 3 to 4 year olds from Dubai British School managed to raise enough money to buy their own satellite tag. We gave them their own rehabilitated hawksbill sea turtle which they named CRUSH and along with 20 other small hawksbills, the children, Jumeirah guests and my colleagues watched these turtles make their way down the beach back out into the wild. My colleague David Robinson was in the water with his camera while I remained on the beach and made sure the turtles all got off safely…such a rewarding morning. Here is what the local Gulf News newspapers says:
Dubai Three to four year olds from Dubai British School released Crush, their own highly endangered Hawkesbill Turtle, from Burj Al Arab’s private beach on April 8 with a tracker they bought with their money.
The foundation stage students who visited Jumeirah’s Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Centre as part of a ‘Dubai, Sand and Sea’ school project ended up raising funds for the satellite tag to help rehabilitate one the turtle. The Burj Al Arab’s Aquarium team released 20 other rehabilitated hawksbill turtles along with Crush.
DBS’ Head of Foundation said: “The children were touched by the turtle stories of rescue and wanted to donate money. However, the centre does not take donations so they decided to collect Dh1 coins to buy a tracker for the release of a turtle. They chose a turtle and named him Crush. They were so excited to see him swim away.”
Student Liam, 4, said: “The turtles were having a race to the sea – Crush was so speedy, I love the turtles,”
His classmate Zayan, also 4, said: “Crush went fast like a jet,
The children were given a small turtle toy to take home and were provided ice lollies and fruit on the beach. The turtle will be tracked and his journey mapped through the tracker by clicking on the following link: www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?tag_id=136835
warrenbaverstock.com 