Crowds gathered on a Jumeirah Beach early on Tuesday morning as 14 turtles, including an injured one rescued by Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi, were released into the ocean.
Two green sea turtles and one loggerhead, each weighing about 90 kilograms, were first to make it into the water as workers from the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project guided them towards the shore.
Eleven smaller turtles followed, with the final one noted as the 2,000th to be recused and released by the team since 2004.
Farah, who was affectionately named by Sharjah's Sheikh Fahim after he found her tangled in a fishing line nine months ago, led the way.
These turtles have been around since the time dinosaurs roamed the Earth. But humans have come in and endangered them
Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi
“When I found Farah and saw how badly injured her flipper was, I honestly never thought she’d be fit enough to be released into the wild again,” Sheikh Fahim said.
“The team that helped her worked so hard and got her swimming, diving and thriving in the water again. That’s when I knew she had a chance.
“Saying goodbye today has been bittersweet. I’ve loved watching her progress over the past nine months and because we have a tracker on her, I’d love to see her return to the place we found her.”
The turtle, aged around 20, was found struggling to free herself from a dumped fishing line off Sir Bu Nuair, a protected area 100 kilometres west of Dubai.
Sheikh Fahim dived seven metres down to rescue her. After the animal was handed over to the Dubai Falcon Hospital, Dr Panos Azmanis attempted surgery but was unable to save her flipper.
“You know, these turtles have been around since the time dinosaurs roamed the Earth,” Sheikh Fahim said.
“But now humans have come in and endangered them. As we celebrate the release of 2,000 turtles, which is a credit to the whole team involved, I can’t help but think 2,000 is too many.
“We can’t control certain things that endanger or risk the health of turtles, like barnacle growth or cold stunning, but we need to respect these animals more.
“Slow down and be careful. This is their habitat you are playing in.”
During Tuesday's release, it was announced that for the first time the public can now also play their part in helping protect marine life in Dubai, especially turtles.
A hotline has been set up where people can report a sick or injured animal by calling 800 TURTLE.
Barbara Lang-Lenton, director of the aquarium at the Burj Al Arab hotel where the rescued turtles were rehabilitated, on Tuesday said there has been an uptake in the number animals coming into the centre.
“Most of the turtles we receive are sick and many of them are just yearlings,” she said.
“They get cold stunned in the winter months and barnacles grow on them, which reduces their ability to move because of the additional weight.
“But we are seeing more and more come in that have been impacted by plastic pollution in the ocean and many that have been hit by boats and jet skis.
“One turtle we treated had its carapace — which is the top shell — cut completely in half. She won’t be able to be released back into the ocean, sadly, because it has effected her buoyancy.”
Over the years, the team has released 64 turtles into the wild with GPS tracking devices.
One turtle ventured an astonishing 8,600km in nine months, ending up in Thailand.
Cared for by a team of people at the aquarium under the Burj Al Arab, the turtles are then transferred to the lagoon at Jumeirah Al Naseem, before they are released into the ocean.
Some turtles have been under the care of the project for more than 10 years, while others are released within three months of being rescued.
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
The UAE squad for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
The jiu-jitsu men’s team: Faisal Al Ketbi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Yahia Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Obaid Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Mansoori, Saeed Al Mazroui, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Salem Al Suwaidi, Khalfan Belhol, Saood Al Hammadi.
Women’s team: Mouza Al Shamsi, Wadeema Al Yafei, Reem Al Hashmi, Mahra Al Hanaei, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Hessa Thani, Salwa Al Ali.
EA Sports FC 24
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Pieces of Her
Stars: Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote, David Wenham, Omari Hardwick
Director: Minkie Spiro
Rating:2/5
