Jogger spots bleeding turtle on UAE beach

Ras Al Khaimah - Khan said that there are many fishermen who set off into the sea in the early morning hours.

Rubayat Khan, a 32-year-old Bangladeshi expat, was dismayed when he spotted a motionless turtle bleeding during his morning jog on Shaam beach in RAK on Friday.
"I noticed it on the beach around 7.30am when I came for my morning run," he told Khaleej Times, and added that the turtle was bleeding from the mouth as "probably it was injured by some external obstacle".

Khan, who is a technical executive with a company here, checked with the Shaam hospital, which is right in the front of the beach, "but there was no help forthcoming". He resorted to social media platforms to see if someone could rescue the turtle, but again "there was no response".
Khan then called the RAK Police. "Some cops immediately arrived at the scene, took a few pictures and left shortly."

Later, a RAK Municipality employee, who was apparently alerted by the RAK Police, rushed there. "He confirmed that the turtle was dead and took it away, probably to dispose of its body."

Khan said that there are many fishermen who set off into the sea in the early morning hours. "I presume the turtle might have got hit by one of those ships and got injured and pulled onto the shore."

One bystander said that the turtle could be really old. "She was possibly over 50 years old, and had lost her strength."

Khan averred that when he saw the injured turtle, he felt "a moral obligation to help out a living being, who could have survived".

news@khaleejtimes.com

• Ras Al Khaimah