Officials at Mu Ko Similan National Park are searching for a visitor accused of feeding a wristband to a sea turtle, an act experts warned could be fatal to the protected species.
The incident came to light on Saturday after a tourist reported on Facebook that, while diving around Islands 5 and 6, they saw another visitor extend a wristband toward a turtle and encourage it to eat.
Park chief Siriwat Suebsai said a joint team of academic and recreation staff, along with the diving operations unit, immediately began searching for the animal. They coordinated with veterinarians from the Upper Andaman Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre and the Marine National Park Education and Research Centre 2 in Phuket.
At around 3:19 pm, divers located the turtle near Islands 5 and 6 and brought it to Thap Lamu Pier for a full examination.
Meanwhile, the park has reached out to the tour company involved to help identify the visitor. A reward has been offered for information leading to the offender. Athapol Charoenshunsa, director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, has also ordered stricter enforcement of wildlife safety rules across all national parks.
Authorities urged the public to respect wildlife and follow park regulations to ensure the safety of protected species.
