Sea turtles cleaned after oil spill off Israel

A few turtles are being treated at the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center, following a disastrous oil spill that has blackened most of the country's shoreline. Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the turtle rescue center, said 11 turtles were brought to the center after the spill, six of them full of tar. Staff at the center started by removing tar from the turtles' respiratory organs before clearing their digestive systems. Currently, the turtles are in rehabilitation at the center, where they are being cleaned every day.

"I hope that in a week or two, these guys will start eating on their own, so (...) we able to release them to the sea," said Ivgy.

Millions of tiny globs of sticky black tar have coated the Israeli shoreline in recent days after an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea.Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry is investigating the cause of the oil spill, believed to have taken place between Feb. 6-10.On Monday, the ministry released a court-issued gag order on all details of the investigation into the party responsible.The Nature and Parks Authority has called it one of the country’s “worst ecological disasters” to date.