Endangered hawksbill turtle found dead in Malindi beach

Conservationists in Malindi have discovered a highly endangered hawksbill turtle that died after reportedly consuming plastic wastes along the shores of the Indian Ocean.

The Conservationists who are composed of stakeholders working under the umbrella of the Progress Welfare Association of Malindi (PWAM) were doing clean-up along the Casino beach in Malindi as part of their monthly clean up and the International Coastal Clean up day when they spotted the dead turtle.

The monthly clean-up organized by PWAM brings together different stakeholders from the Business community, hoteliers, school children, their teachers, Imams, and Muslim students, among others.

It aims at making Malindi greener and cleaner.

Kenya Wildlife Service Officials who were part of the clean-up team were called to witness the dead turtle and confirmed it was the hawksbill turtle.

Senior Sgt Abu Bocha said the turtle might have died after consuming plastic before it was washed away to the shores.

Speaking at the scene where it was found, Bocha said normally, turtles eat white plastics thinking it's a jellyfish and end up developing complications that lead to death.

“It seems to have died after consuming plastics that's why we clean the beach always, the plastics are eaten by the turtles also,” he said.

Bocha said when the Turtle sees plastics they think it's a jellyfish and after eating them,  their stomachs expands and then  they suffocate to death.

He said it is important for everyone visiting the beaches to keep plastics in a safe place so as to save endangered species.

“These species are very few in the world, and there is a need for us to conserve them,” he said.

The Snr Sergeant said upon examining the dead turtle they found no marks to show that the turtle was killed by a human being, he said.

Earlier Bocha said their partnership with PWAM has really helped in raising awareness to the community as they normally do clean up once a month.

To him, the monthly clean-ups that bring different stakeholders from Malindi will go a long way in saving creatures of the Ocean that are threatened by plastic waste.

“Apart from Cleaning Ocean, we also do underwater clean up. We work with Bluefin diving school to ensure there are no plastic wastes in the ocean,” he said.

The Turtle was later buried and flowers were placed on top of the ‘grave’ after which children sang the national anthem.