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In Israel, mayo provides miracle for endangered turtles

In Israel, mayo provides miracle for endangered turtles

Tar is cleaned from a six-month-old green sea turtle at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Mickmoret, Israel, on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2021, after an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo: AP/Ariel Schalit)

MICKMORET, Israel: When it comes to saving sea turtles, Israeli rescuers have discovered that mayonnaise is a miracle.

Employees at Israel's National Sea Turtle Rescue Center are treating endangered green sea turtles affected by a devastating oil spill that has coated Israel's coast with thick black tar.

The spill, which Israel's Nature and Parks Authority has called one of the country's worst ecological disasters on record, has coated most of Israel's 195km of Mediterranean coastline with sticky tar. It has caused extensive damage to wildlife, including sea turtles.

Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Mickmoret, north of Tel Aviv, said 11 turtles are being treated. The centre is run by Israel's Nature and Parks Authority.

“They came to us full of tar. All their trachea from inside and outside was full of tar," he said.

Workers have been removing the toxic substance from the reptiles' airways and found a creative way to flush it out of their digestive tracts.

“We continue to feed them substances like mayonnaise, which practically clean the system and break down the tar," Ivgy said. The recovery process is expected to take a week or two, after which the turtles are expected to be released back into the wild.

READ: Oil spill stains Israeli shoreline; investigations underway

Thousands of volunteers and clean-up crews have mobilised to remove tar from Israel's beaches, a task that is expected to take months.

Israel's Environmental Protection Ministry says it is investigating the cause of the oil spill.

The incident is believed to have taken place in early February, and Israel said it received no prior warning before an estimated 1,000 tonnes of tar started washing up on shore. The tar has also washed north to Lebanon.

On Monday (Feb 22), an Israeli court barred publication of all details of the investigation, including the name of the suspected ship believed to have spilled the oil, its route and ports of call.

An Israeli journalists' association petitioned the court on Tuesday to have the order lifted.

Source: AP/kg

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