Rescuers in Israel feed turtles mayonnaise after ingesting tar

Posted by Anita Froneman on 26 February 2021

Israel is reeling from a severe oil spill from an unidentified ship in February, covering almost its entire coastline with thick tar.

As a result, wildlife is suffering and various organisations and volunteers now have to clean animals who have been left covered in oil and tar.

Israel’s National Sea Turtle Rescue Center found an interesting hack to help clean the endangered green sea turtles’ insides. They feed the turtles mayonnaise, which is harmless to them and helps them pass the tar without digesting too much of it.

‘They came to us full of tar. All their trachea from inside and outside was full of tar,’ Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the Center told Associated Press (AP). ‘We continue to feed them substances like mayonnaise, which practically clean the system and break down the tar.’

Authorities have not confirmed which ship was responsible and strangely, the incident is being hushed in Israeli media. According to AP, Israel banned the publication of details regarding the investigation, including the name of the suspected ship, its route and ports of call.

Environmental protection minister, Gila Gamliel, said nine ships that were in the area at the time were being looked at, according to The Guardian. ‘There is a more than reasonable chance that we will be able to locate the specific ship.’

Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Not related






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