In Lebanon, an endangered sea turtle was pulled out of the ocean and then beaten so tourists could take pictures with it. This happened last week to a loggerhead sea turtle. The turtle suffered from quite a few severe injuries as the beach goers pulled it out of the current. It is recovering from cracked bones all over its body, mostly in its head. The Greenarea group is responsible for rescuing the turtle and Animals Lebanon is where she is currently recovering. Both of these organizations are incredibly upset that something like this would happen and they are doing their best to make sure she does not die and makes a full recovery.

Tourists just want the fame

This incident took place in Beirut at the Havana Beach area. One person saw the sea turtle and decided to drag it out of the water. That is when a rather large crowd decided to gather and look at it. A kid decided to step on it and stand there, on the turtle’s back, while the tourists began to take pictures. That is when a witness claims that after the picture taking was all done, the tourists grabbed sticks and simply started beating it like crazy. No one knows exactly why these tourists would beat the turtle, but the damage is done and it could be the end of this turtle’s life all because these tourists were thoughtless. 

Animals Lebanon says that the damage that these tourists have done to her in severe. She has broken bones in her head which pretty much crushed it and she is now having issues with her sinus cavity as well. Through all of the X-rays, they have found that the beatings did an absurd amount of damage to these beautiful and endangered turtle. She is being treated with some of the best antibiotics and her recovery will be a slow one, but these groups are very hopeful. If she had not been found, the injuries alone would have probably killed her. 

The Loggerhead Turtles

These turtles have been on the endangered list for quite some time. Their population has died out because of pollution and the threatening of their nesting areas. A lot of development has hit the areas where they nest so that has destroyed many of their chances for reproducing. Many activists have started to protect their nesting areas in order to help them to build their population back up. These activists have clashed with a lot of the builders in these areas who want to see the turtles gone. These turtles are some of the biggest sea turtles in the world and they are known for the strength that they carry in their heads and jaws. 

This news comes at a horrible time. Just a few months ago, a baby dolphin was passed around so groups of people could take pictures of it. People have been arrested for trying to ride different sea animals such as manatees. It seems that society has grown into a terrible place and hopefully animal organizations can do something more to protect them.