MICHMORET, Israel (AP) – When it comes to rescuing sea turtles, Israeli rescue workers have discovered that mayonnaise is a miracle.
Israeli National Sea Turtle Rescue Center employees are treating endangered green sea turtles hit by a devastating oil spill that has covered Israel’s coast in thick black tar.
The spill, dubbed one of the country’s worst ecological disasters ever by the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority, has covered most of Israel’s 125-mile Mediterranean coastline in sticky tar. It has wreaked havoc on wildlife including sea turtles.
Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret, north of Tel Aviv, said 11 turtles are being treated. The center is run by the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority.
“They came to us full of tar. All their windpipes inside and out were full of tar, ”he said.
Workers have cleared the toxin from the reptiles’ respiratory tract and found a creative way to flush it out of their digestive tract.
“We keep giving them substances like mayonnaise, which practically clean the system and break down the tar,” said Ivgy. The recovery process is expected to take a week or two, after which the turtles are expected to be released back into the wild.
Thousands of volunteers and cleaning crews have mobilized to remove tar from Israel’s beaches, a task expected to take months.
Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection says it is investigating the cause of the oil spill.
The incident is said to have occurred in early February, and Israel said it had received no advance warning before an estimated 1,000 tons of tar began washing up on land. The tar has also been flushed north to Lebanon.
On Monday, an Israeli court banned the publication of all details of the investigation, including the name of the suspected ship that would have spilled the oil, its route and ports of call. An Israeli journalists association filed a petition with the court on Tuesday to lift the order.