In May 2017, guests at the Shangri La, Boracay came across a baby turtle struggling on the beach. They tried to give it a hand and release it to the water, but the surge and wind appeared to be preventing it from swimming out.
They called the team at Victory Divers, unsure what to do, and were told to bring the turtle (now affectionately nicknamed Bruce) to the dive shop where he would be observed for a short period. The next day the team, accompanied by marine biologist Haron Deo Vargas and with assistance from Leo Suarez, a vet who specialises in sea turtles, it was discovered that little Bruce has a puncture wound on his carapace (his hard upper shell) and as such, air has become trapped in his shell. This was the reason Bruce was struggling to swim off, the air was preventing him from diving down.
The decision was made to keep Bruce and look after him until he was strong enough do dive down on his own and day by day the Victory Divers team fed him, cleaned his water and took him for regular swims in the ocean.
On one of his daily exercise swims, his carers noticed that Bruce was able to dive down so everyone gathered to release him in the same place he was found.
Congratulations to the team at Victory Divers on the successful rehabilitation of Bruce, and thank you for caring for our ocean and its inhabitants.
