AGI/Vista – The turtle Silva had to wait over 10 months of rehabilitation in the curator tanks of the Genoa Aquarium before returning to the sea. Today she returned to her environment on board the GC B 129 inflatable boat, made available by the Port Authority – Coast Guard of Genoa. To greet her, in addition to the entities constantly involved in the protection of this species – Genoa Aquarium, Coast Guard, Forestry Carabinieri CITES service – also the Pilots of the Port of Genoa, and Riccardo Da Silva in particular, whose intervention saved this specimen from death certain. On 2 December 2023 the Caretta caretta specimen was rescued and transferred to the Aquarium of Genoa by the Pilots of the Port of Genoa on duty in the Voltri-Prà basin. The animal was identified by the crew of the service pilot boat in the port waters in evident difficulty, as its head and part of the body were wrapped in a phantom net and other material trapped in it, including plastic bottles, which had created a deep laceration on her neck. It also appeared without the right front fin, amputated probably following a traumatic event of anthropic origin, such as the collision with the propeller of a boat or due to the net itself which had acted as a tether, tearing the tissues and presented several traumatic injuries to the carapace with exposure of the lung tissue. The crew of the pilot boat, authorized by the Coast Guard, had recovered and transported her to the Genoa Aquarium with great difficulty due to the terrible sea conditions, where the aquarium and medical-veterinary staff had welcomed her and given her the name Silva , in homage to the “pilot” Riccardo Da Silva who had rescued her. During this long period it was hosted in one of the curatorial tanks not visible to the public dedicated to rescue activities. Rehabilitation required several months to heal both the deep wound on the neck and the lesions on the carapace and plastron, as well as complete healing of the missing limb. The animal, despite the lack of the right front fin, is still able to swim and dive correctly. Aquarium of Genoa Source: Vista Agency / Alexander Jakhnagiev
