Inside Dubai's turtle rehabilitation center

STORY: These sick and injured sea turtles receive care

at a rehabilitation sanctuary in Dubai

before they're released back into the sea

(Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project) "There are four main risks to critically endangered sea turtles that will have them being cared for by the fantastic team at the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project. The first one is caused by the environment and it’s cold-stunning, when young turtles get weight down by the barnacles that grow on them, and they wash up on our beaches. It is important to know that you should call 800 TURTLE, if you ever find a turtle that has been cold stunned. The other three causes are unfortunately by us humans: entanglement, plastic ingestion or boat strikes. It is a shame to see this happening."

All seven species of sea turtles are listed

as vulnerable to extinction, endangered or critically endangered

"Since launching the project, the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project has saved over 2,000 turtles in the nearly 20 years of its existence. It is an extremely important project as it is the only project of its kind in the region, caring for sick and injured sea turtles when we get to celebrate and release them in the wild.”