Photos Of Actually Healthy Turtles In Malta’s Seas Are Making People’s Day
Severely entangled, suffocating and dead sea turtles recovered just off Malta’s coasts have been going viral for the last couple of weeks. While definitely infuriating, the photos dominating local social media have also been absolutely soul-crushing, with many left lamenting the sad state of Maltese waters. Which is probably why loads of people were so happy to see the direct opposite.
Over the last 24 hours, different photos and videos of healthy, handsome and downright happy sea turtles have been making the rounds on Facebook.
Earlier yesterday, a Maltese man shared some shots of a turtle he had come across while out at sea. “Checking out if she’s OK,” he told his Facebook friends, anticipating the numerous depressing turtle videos currently circulating online. “Everything fine, she just wanted to say hello.” In fact, the man went on to say that the turtle was spotted on the surface because it could’ve very well been the same one that had just moments before been saved by fishermen after a tiresome ordeal.
A mere couple of hours later, another Maltese person came close to a healthy sea turtle, this time about 20 miles off the coast of Marsascala.
This time posted onto popular animal-loving Facebook forum RUBS Puppy Love, the photo generated a whopping 4,500 positive reactions, with dozens of people admiring the creature’s beauty.
Other people quickly joined in the conversation, with one person saying she had encountered more than 10 healthy sea turtles over the weekend.
But it wasn’t just the south cast of Malta that got treated to some of the gorgeous critters this week; according to numerous reports, the sea was “full of turtles” in the Sicily-Malta channel. Some people even shared photos from the trip back home, with adorable visitors coming all the way up to the boat.
Of course, while all these photos and videos are absolutely adorable and great to see, we mustn’t forget all the other turtles which have been directly affected by the sheer amount of plastic found in our seas.
This year alone, for example, 60 turtles have already been injured in our waters, with 20 of them sadly ending up dead. Seeing as that figure was “only” 15 last year, there’s definitely a lot of work still to be done.
However, posts like the ones going viral this week should serve as the perfect reminder that, when left to live a healthy and happy life, sea turtles are one of the most adorable sea neighbours we’ve got.
Tag someone to brighten up their day and share any more photos of healthy sea turtles you have in the comments below!
READ NEXT: WATCH: Maltese Fishermen Rush To Save Severely Entangled Turtle
