“Free the Ash Turtle from the Aquarium”

Dozens of activists from Legambiente, WWF, LAV and other environmental and animal rights associations, together with volunteers from the Cetacean Foundation, protested yesterday in front of the Cattolica Aquarium to ask for “the liberation of Ash“. Cenere is a sea turtle who has been a guest at the Aquarium for some months, to continue the rehabilitation process after the treatment received for 4 years at Cestha (the turtle recovery center in Ravenna), due to serious injuries to his carapace. Activists arrived from all over the province and also from Ravenna, Bologna, Modena and Pesaro for the demonstration. According to environmental and animal rights associations, Cenere “cannot stay in an Aquarium tank”, they believe it is an environment not suitable for its recovery. And according to the activists “despite the declarations of the Aquarium and the Cestha biologist, there is a well-founded doubt that it is just a marketing operation”. During the demonstration, some episodes of animals escaping from places of detention were recalled. At the end the participants reiterated that “Ash must be released and put back into the sea as soon as possible”. This is precisely the objective of the rehabilitation project launched in Cattolica per Cenere, which – as explained in recent days by the Aquarium – must recover mobility and learn to swim with only the front fins. “His conditions – say Cestha – are improving day by day. And every step brings us closer to Cinder’s return to the sea.”