KUWAIT CITY, March 11: The Kuwaiti Diving Team, affiliated with the Voluntary Environmental Foundation, successfully recovered three tons of abandoned fishing nets from the southern Kuwait Sea near Bnaider. During the operation, the team also rescued stranded marine creatures, including a rare hawksbill turtle, which was delivered to the Scientific Center for necessary care.

Team leader Waleed Al-Fadhel told KUNA on Tuesday that the team had received a report about the abandoned nets, which were located three kilometers offshore from Bnaider. The nets posed a threat to both navigation and marine life, prompting the team to act swiftly and remove them.

Al-Fadhel explained that the nets were large, requiring several hours to be lifted. He emphasized that this operation is part of the team’s ongoing efforts to clean the southern coasts of Kuwait and protect the marine environment. The team’s goal is to secure the sea and ensure its safety for marine creatures.

Al-Fadhel also urged seagoers to protect sea turtles, highlighting that they are both rare and endangered. He warned against the dangers of waste being discarded in the water, particularly abandoned nets that can entangle turtles, leading to suffocation and death. He pointed out that transparent plastic bags floating in the water are also hazardous, as sea turtles often mistake them for jellyfish, which are a primary food source.

He further mentioned that turtle nesting sites in Kuwait have significantly declined. Nowadays, turtles only nest on Qaruh Island, located southeast of the Kuwaiti Sea. While researchers closely monitor these nesting sites, turtles are still found across Kuwaiti waters and can often be spotted by seagoers and divers.

Al-Fadhel explained that there are seven species of sea turtles worldwide, of which only two — the hawksbill turtle and the green turtle — are found in the Kuwaiti Sea. These turtles can grow up to two meters in length and weigh as much as 900 kilograms.

Since its establishment in 1986, the Kuwaiti Diving Team has carried out numerous operations to protect and rescue sea turtles. Notable efforts include difficult marine rescue missions to free turtles trapped in cooling station basins and abandoned fishing nets.

In addition to these rescue operations, the team has also played a key role in awareness campaigns aimed at schoolchildren and the broader community. These campaigns, which include social media programs, publications, films, and interactive workshops, focus on the importance of turtle conservation and the need to protect these creatures from harm.

Al-Fadhel also mentioned the team’s participation in an integrated environmental program on Heron Island in Australia, where they learned about advanced turtle nest protection programs implemented near the Great Barrier Reef.

He expressed his gratitude for the continued support and efforts of government agencies, scientific institutions, and environmental organizations in Kuwait. Their collective interest in tracking the movement of sea turtles — both locally and across the Gulf — using satellite tracking devices, as well as their commitment to international agreements for turtle protection, was also acknowledged.