stranded refugees save injured sea turtle
The sea turtle pictured at the Archelon Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Athens on Sunday, January 31. Credit: Alex Vamvakoulas / Greenpeace
This article was written by Nikos Charalambides and originally published by The Environmentalist, a place for breaking news and commentary by Greenpeace.
The news passed quietly, but not without significance. I heard that a wounded and weakened loggerhead sea turtle washed ashore on the rocky Farmakonisi Island in the Aegean Sea, where it lay for several days slowly losing its strength.
Soon after, at the same isolated beach, a few hundred souls fleeing persecution and violence washed ashore after their boat capsized. Turtle and stranded refugees met each other there, exhausted from their long journeys.
The refugees had suffered their own losses, while the turtle was weakened and suffering hypothermia from the wintry waters. When another boat arrived to carry the people to safety on the island of Leros, media reports say the turtle went with them.
At Leros their paths separated.