Taormina, 21 April 2014. A "Caretta caretta" (Italian name for turtle) of about 50 cm (male), was rescued in the waters between Capo Taormina and Giardini Naxos.

While we were navigating towards our divesites we entcountered a sea turtle. We were surprised because we never see a turtle so close to the coastline. We stayed with him for a couple of minutes. Then we saw he tried to go back under water but he didn't succeed. He came back to the surface again and again. Also we saw algae on the shell. After monitoring the turtle at the sea and the contact with the Port of Messina, the team of Sea Spirit Diving Resort in Taormina rescued the sea turtle. The team consisted of: Daniel Russo, Salvatore Sterrantino and Vincenzo Musarella, under the guidance of diving instructors Carmelo Sgroi and Cilla Lentz.

The "Caretta caretta" was adrift approximately 1 mile from the coast, showed an intestinal problem, probably due to ingestion of plastic. After transfer to the dive resort for the first treatment, the turtle was taken to Palermo by the employees of the center where they monitor and control the turtles and cetaceans (Instituto zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia). Dr. Santo Caracappa took care of it.

After a couple of days we received the sad message that the turtle didn’t survive. The stomach of the turtle was full with plastic and lines from the fisher men.

We want to say to all the people who are at the sea, at the beach or near the sea. Please don’t throw anything in the sea that doesn’t belong there. It is really important to keep our seas and oceans clean!

Carmelo Sgroi and Cilla Lentz

Sea Spirit Diving Resort

Giardini-Naxos/Taormina, Sicily, Italy