A valiant effort and win. Photo: Daily Mail
British tourist Christ Skone-Roberts, 44, was vacationing on Little Corn Island off the east coast of Nicaragua when he stumbled across a horrific sight. Two five-foot and endangered loggerheads lay on their back in the garden of a bar, their fins tied up, as they struggled to breathe. But what started as a big-time bummer — and still makes us feel queasy — took a massive turn for the better as the tourist saved the turtles (video below) from their near-certain fate.
Not what you have in mind when you think “vacation.” Photo: Daily Mail
According to a report and subsequent speculation by the Daily Mail, the loggerheads had apparently been dragged in from the sea before being left for dead by suffocation in the garden where they would then be butchered and served to thus-inclined patrons. Turtle meat is considered a local delicacy in the region.
To save the animals, Skone-Roberts began by throwing water on the turtles. But a women then attacked and began pulling him away from the reptiles, angrily claiming that they were hers. The Brit immediately contacted the police to intervene, and while waiting for them to come, he called on nearby tourists and divers to help pour water on the dying loggerheads. By the time the officials arrived, the animals were breathing again and police ordered them to be returned to the ocean — a command Skone-Roberts and company were more than happy to adhere to. They carefully loaded the turtles onto a cart and with guidance of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, eased them the turtles back into the sea.
