Meet Jude, a victim of fishing line entanglement around both front flippers and his neck.
The fishing line had cut deep into the left front flipper, all the way through the muscle and down to the humerus (the bone of the upper limb). That flipper could not be saved and was amputated by Dr Celie at Alma Street Veterinary Hospital.
Besides his injuries Jude was in great condition. He was lucky he was found in time as he would not have survived in the wild with these injuries! Although he now has to live life with 3 flippers which was completely preventable. So sad!
Jude stayed in care with us for 78 days during which he received pain relief to deal with the extreme pain from his injuries, antibiotics to prevent infection, and parasite treatment. After Jude had adjusted to swimming with 3 flippers and had built up enough muscle strength to be strong enough to swim into the ocean’s currents, he was released back into the wild by our caretaker Andreia.
Fishermen, Jude’s story had 3/4 of a happy ending but unfortunately not all of these fishing line victims survive. Can we please ask you to do your part and:
– Clean up after yourselves, remove all fishing gear and rubbish, don’t leave any behind.
– Don’t discard ANY fishing gear in the ocean (it takes 600 years for fishing line to degrade – marine wildlife gets entangled in it, leaving deep cuts and losing limbs – fishing hooks don’t dissolve in sea turtles, they kill it).
– Never cut your line when you get snagged, recover the line and hook to protect all wildlife in the ocean. If you’re not willing to recover you gear, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY and use biodegradable fishing line.
– If you hook a sea turtle, recover the animal, leave the hook in, and call us immediately for pickup please (when you remove yourself, the wound is likely to get infected – and we need the exact location of the hook to determine any internal damage).