A WRU ranger releasing Klowyi into the sea behind Gaya Island witnessed by Timothy, Dr Sen, WRU rangers, Sabah Parks and resort personnel.
KOTA KINABALU: After more than a month under the care of the Sabah Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU), Klowyi, a juvenile green sea turtle diagnosed with ‘floater syndrome’ was released back to the sea near Gaya Island on Wednesday morning.
Klowyi is one of the WRU’s successful rescues because sadly, only about 20 per cent of the rescued turtles with ‘floater syndrome’ treated by the WRU recovered.
This is because most of the turtles sent to the unit were in serious condition, said Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan.
Klowyi who was rescued by a member of the Kudat Turtle Conservation Society on April 7 in Kudat, was handed over to the Wildlife Rescue Unit for treatment, said Dr Sen.
The Green Sea Turtle was then housed at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort Marina Clownfish Discovery Centre where it was given intensive care and treatment by the WRU veterinarians and rangers.
“We are fortunate to have Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort’s assistance in this as we were unable to send Klowyi to the Borneo Marine Research Institute which was under EMCO then.
“As we needed to have the turtle near the sea, the resort was the best place for it to undergo treatment,” said Dr Sen who was met at the resort before Klowyi was released.
Klowyi, he explained, had a condition described as ‘floater syndrome’ caused by excess accumulation of gas in the body. As a result of this condition, she could not dive for food or protection.
Thus, she could starve to death and is at greater risk of being hit by a boat as she is unable to dive, Dr Sen explained.
According to him, the ‘floater syndrome’ is not a disease per se but rather a syndrome developed as a result of some other cause or causes.
“For one reason or another, gas accumulates in the gut and body cavity of a sea turtle rendering it unable to dive. This condition may be due to ingestion of plastics that causes infections of the intestines or even the lungs,” he added.
However in Klowyi’s case, she was eating and defacating well so there was no obstruction in the coelomic cavity, therefore her condition could have been caused by a lung infection, he said.
WRU vetenarian Dr Mischellena Samanthan Michael who was in charge of Klowyi’s treatment, said the turtle underwent ‘Coelomocentesis’ which is a procedure to expel air from the body cavity.
“A total of 3.5 litres of air was aspirated from her during the first treatment. Our team was based at the Clownfish Discovery Centre everyday. Once she was able to dive and retrieve food at the bottom of the four feet deep tank she was in, we knew that she recovered and was ready to be released back into the sea,” Dr Mischellena.
The WRU team also carried out administration of fluid therapy to replace fluid losses and electrolyte status, deworming and antimicrobial therapy on Klowyi, she said.
Meanwhile, Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the department expressed its deepest gratitude to the general nanager and his team at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa for kind hospitality and assistance to the SWD’s Wildlife Rescue Unit in nursing the sick green sea turtle that was rescued from Kudat more than one month ago.
“We sincerely hope that in the future, both Sabah Wildlife Department and Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa would continue collaborating on conservation efforts focusing on marine eildlife in Sabah,” added the director.
“If not for the professionalism and hard work of veterinarians and rangers of WRU, Klowyi would probably not survive this ordeal but now she has completely healed and can be released back into the wild,” concluded Augustine.
Joining the Rescue Unit during the release of the turtle back to sea yesterday morning was general manager of Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu, Timothy Sainsbury who said, “We are delighted to have been able to play a part in WRU’s month-long treatment of the turtle. My team and I are inspired by the Unit’s relentless effort in rescuing Klowyi and are happy that we are able to send her home today.”
Under Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Program, Sanctuary, the resort has been running a marine conservation programme for seven years to assist with the preservation and protection of the Tunku Abdul Marine Park and species such as the clownfish.
Overseen by the resort’s marine biologist, the project involves guided snorkelling tours, coral planting and local awareness programmes at its Clownfish Discovery Centre for schools and the local communities in the area.
Wildlife Rescue Unit is fully funded by Malaysian Palm Oil Council’s Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation, a British NGO: Orangutan Appeal UK, and an American Zoo: Oregon Zoo