As everyone is beginning to enjoy being able to go out and about again, the same rings true for HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
In recent weeks His Highness has been posting clips from his weekend fishing trips – which has certainly given us ideas for some new weekend activities – and now the Crown Prince of Dubai has made another outing, for a very special reason.
Sharing a series of videos and photos on Instagram, Sheikh Hamdan was seen releasing a number of turtles into the sea near the Burj Al Arab to mark World Sea Turtle Day on June 16.
The release of the turtles was orchestrated through Jumeirah Group’s Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project.
A total of 45 rehabilitated Hawksbill turtles were released back into the wild, as well as 20 baby sea turtles.
Discussing the programme, Gerhard Beukes, the Director of Aquarium Operations and Animal Husbandry at Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project, explained, that the process begins “with critical care at the facilities at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, then progresses to the state-of-the-art, sea-fed turtle rehabilitation lagoon, where the turtles acclimate to ambient conditions, and build up fitness levels prior to release back into the wild”.
The programme was launched by Jumeirah Group 16 years ago in 2004 in order to help protect sea turtles, which are a species severely affected by the eight million tonnes of plastic which ends up in the oceans every year.
Under the project, over 1,900 turtles have been rehabilitated and returned to the Arabian Gulf.
