https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-turtles-oil-spill-mayonnaise-2650798372.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
Olivia Rosane
Feb. 25, 2021 02:21PM EST
Rescue workers in Israel are using a surprising cure to save the sea turtles harmed by a devastating oil spill: mayonnaise!
The condiment can both help break down the tar that has coated even the turtles' insides and clean out their system, Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret, explained to The Associated Press.
"They came to us full of tar. All their trachea from inside and outside was full of tar," he said.
Tar from a mysterious oil spill began washing up on Israeli beaches last week, as EcoWatch reported previously. The spill is being called one of the worst ecological disasters in the nation's history, and has now covered most of Israel's 120 miles of coastline along the Mediterranean, according to The Associated Press. It has now also spread to the coastline of Lebanon.
The spill has generated around 1,000 tons of tar, which has seriously affected wildlife, including sea turtles. The injured turtles have been taken to the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center, which is north of Tel Aviv. Ivgy told The Associated Press Tuesday that the center was currently treating 11 turtles. Yaniv Levy, the center's founder and director, told Haaretz the same day that the center was treating 27 turtles total and six for tar damage specifically.
The tar-coated turtles have to be cleaned both inside and out, Levy explained.
"They all got here with a coat of tar on their heads, and in their eyes, nostrils, mouth, digestive system and stomach," he said. "With this kind of damage they have no chance to survive without treatment. We removed the tar from their nostrils and eyes so they could breathe and see."
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