MICHMORET, Israel (AP) – When it comes to saving sea turtles, Israeli rescuers have discovered that mayonnaise is a miracle.
Employees at Israel’s National Sea Turtle Rescue Center are treating endangered green sea turtles affected by a devastating oil spill that has covered the coast of Israel with a thick black tar.
The spill, which the Israeli authority for nature and parks has described as one of the country’s worst ecological disasters, has covered most of Israel’s 195 miles (195 kilometers) of the Mediterranean coast with sticky tar. It has caused great damage to wildlife, including sea turtles.
Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the Michmoret Sea Turtle Rescue Center in north Tel Aviv, said 11 turtles were being treated. The center is run by the Israeli Authority for Nature and Parks.
“They came to us full of tar. The whole trachea inside and out was full of tar, ”he said.
Workers have been removing the toxic substance from the airways of reptiles and have found a creative way to get it out of their digestive tracts.
“We continue to feed them substances like mayonnaise, which virtually clean the system and break down tar,” Ivgy said. The recovery process is expected to take a week or two, and then the turtles are expected to be released back into the wild.
Thousands of volunteers and cleaning crews have mobilized to remove tar from Israel’s beaches, a task that is expected to take months.
The Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection says it is investigating the cause of the oil spill.
The incident is believed to have taken place in early February and Israel said it had not received any prior notice before it was estimated that 1,000 tonnes of tar would begin to wash off the coast. Tar has also been washed north to Lebanon.
On Monday, an Israeli court banned the publication of all details of the investigation, including the name of the alleged vessel believed to have spilled the oil, its route and ports of call. An association of Israeli journalists on Tuesday asked the court to lift the order.