A handful of endangered sea turtles have been returned to Israel's Mediterranean waters after surviving an oil spill that required them to undergo weeks of cleaning, including gastric purges with mayonnaise.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The mid-February disaster, blamed by Israeli authorities on crude released from a passing ship, blighted coasts as far north as Lebanon and Gaza to the south. Wildlife casualties included 29 green or loggerhead turtles that washed up dead.
Video: Reuters
But three of each endangered breed were rescued by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, whose rangers used cotton buds and wipes to painstakingly dislodge tar from the plate-sized animals' eyes, noses and mouths.
Tube-fed mayonnaise also served to expel oil that had been swallowed or inhaled by the snappers, the Authority said.
The turtles, whose sex was not yet clear, given their young age were lowered off a boat into the Mediterranean 5 kilometers (3 miles) from shore, a distance the rangers hoped would spare them danger from predators, fishermen, or marine traffic.
"They are very special animals in a position of extinction so every turtle that goes back to the sea and will survive and bring back more turtles to us," Authority head Shaul Goldstein said, after watching his former wards wade into the depths.
"Maybe this will prevent the extinction and will let our children and grandchildren see sea turtles in the future."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
