Indo-Asian News Service 4/19/04: Turtles helped save lives of Chinese sailors

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Turtles helped save lives of Chinese sailors

 

By Jatindra Dash, Indo-Asian News Service

 

Bhubaneswar, Apr 19 (IANS) Behind the survival of two Chinese sailors

of a Malaysian cargo ship that sank in Indian waters last week is an

amazing story of how some turtles helped them stay afloat in rough

waters.

 

The turtles, presumably Olive Ridleys, swam with the sailors -- Gao

Fuling, 56, and Zhu Yuan, 41 -- as they were struggling in the waters

of the Bay of Bengal and helped them stay afloat till rescue vessels

reached them.

 

The cargo ship MV Genius Star-VI, carrying 17 crewmembers, had sunk

April 13 about 300 km southeast of Haldia town in West Bengal. The

vessel was on its way to India from Malaysia carrying a consignment

of timber.

 

Three crewmembers, Gao Fuling, Wuxun Yuan and Zhu Yuan, jumped into

the water, Commandant P.K. Mishra of the Indian Coast Guard told IANS.

 

Gao and Wuxun had life jackets while Zhu was clinging on to a wooden plank.

 

" Gao and Zhu told us about their 34-hour struggle in the water. They

described how two turtles met with them and tried to help them, "

Mishra said.

 

Gao said a large turtle came to him on April 13 as he tried to reach

a box-like item floating in the water to attract the attention of

ships or aircraft looking for the sunken cargo ship.

 

Gao tried to unsuccessfully to pick the box. The turtle, which was

swimming alongside, too tried to lift the box, he told Coast Guard

officials.

 

" When the turtle failed, he pushed me up to the box so that I could

latch on to it, " Gao reportedly said.

 

When Zhu lost the wooden plank he was holding on to, a turtle came

near him and tried to help him out. " Zhu said the turtle swam with

him for hours and brought the wooden plank back to him, " Mishra said.

 

After being alerted about the sinking of the Genius Star-VI, the

Coast Guard mounted a rescue mission along with three merchant ships

who were in the area.

 

The merchant ships rescued 12 crewmembers while a Coast Guard ship

rescued Gao, Wuxun and Zhu, Mishra said. Two crewmembers are still

missing.

 

India's eastern coast is home to hundreds of thousands of endangered

Olive Ridley turtles that emerge from the sea every year to make

certain beaches their temporary home.

 

The two turtles that helped the Chinese sailors might have been Olive

Ridleys because most of their nesting occurs during the dry season

from April to November, a wildlife expert said.

 

--Indo-Asian News Service

 

 

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