Mystery over tied-up dead turtle in Limassol

Officials on Monday said they knew nothing about a sea turtle incident at Governor’s Beach, after a photo was posted online over the weekend showing a tied-up carcass on a rocky cliff by the water.

According to local media, a Facebook user posted a photo on Easter Sunday morning which showed the body of a sea turtle, tied up with a rope on a rocky cliff at Governors’ Beach in Limassol.

“How sick does one have to be to do such a thing, tying up a turtle on a rock and leave it there to die,” the user wrote.

Knews reached out to the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research on Monday morning with officials saying they had not been notified about the incident.

Fisheries official Melina Marcou told Knews she only knew saw the picture and read comments on Facebook but declined to speculate what might have happened.

Officials believe a number of incidents involving deaths of sea turtles could be the result of natural or accidental deaths but there was no information to rule out animal cruelty in the specific case.

Police also told Knews on Monday they were looking into the incident. It was not fully established by 12 noon whether an official complaint had been filed with authorities in the first place.

The majority of social media users commenting on the incident expressed frustration and anger, while others suggested the turtle might have been already dead before being tied up possibly to move it to another location.

Only one photo and no close ups were posted on Facebook. The person who said he took the photo responded to comments saying the turtle appeared to have been dead for days and the carcass was in bad shape.

“Insects and birds had foraged on the sea turtle,” he added.