Heartbreak as endangered turtle returns to beach to lay her eggs only to find a RUNWAY has been built over Maldives breeding ground
A HEARTBREAKING photo shows a confused endangered turtle return to a beach to lay her eggs – only to find a RUNWAY has been built over the Maldives breeding ground.
The tragic pic shows the green sea turtle releasing her eggs directly on to the new 2,200-metre-long runway of Maafaru airport, in Noonu Atoll.
Parveen Kasween, who shared the photo on Twitter, said: “On Tuesday a green sea turtle came from the sea and laid eggs on the middle of the aircraft runway of Maafaru airport in Noonu Atoll.
“Little did she know that it is no more her home now.”
He said that turtles have a “habit of returning back to the same location” but it would no longer be “the same for them”.
Green sea turtles migrate long distances, travelling back to the beaches where they were born.
The airport at Maafaru was officially opened on August 28 last year.
The project includes an airport hotel, passenger terminal and hangar facilities for Airbus A320-200.
There are also plans for airport administrative buildings, speed boat docking, and a VIP private jetty.
It was funded by United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a “gift”, according to The Edition, which described the scheme as “highly controversial”.
The website said the atoll “has a long history of being a popular nesting site for hundreds of turtles” and that the incident highlighted the “devastating reality of habitat loss as [it] affects mega-fauna.
“This particular turtle sought out a spot to lay eggs, on an island frequented by its species, only to find that her home had been compromised for a runway.”
A Maafaru Island Council spokesperson said: “Despite the construction of the runway, the frequency with which turtles visit the island for nesting purposes has not decreased.”
Parveen said he hoped the photo of the confused turtle helped people “get the message” about the impact of the new runway.
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He said: “It’s not about this turtle. It’s about a species which is coming to this location each year to lay eggs.
“And then all the turtles will come to the same location where they were hatched once. It’s a circle. Stopped now.”
The Independent says that the turtle was reportedly in good health, and she was apparently helped back into the sea by locals.