A member of the Sea Turtle Rescue Center cleans up a sea turtle in central Mikhmoret, north of Tel Aviv, February 21, 2021. -

MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP

Mayonnaise to save turtles victims of oil spills?

It's weird, but it is this "treatment" that is administered to animals treated at the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Israel.

Since mid-February, tons of tar have been spilled on Mediterranean beaches, from Rosh Hanikra, in the north near Lebanon, to Ashkelon, in the south on the edge of the Gaza Strip.

Teams of the army, civilians and members of NGOs have scoured the coasts of the country to clean the beaches, and more than twenty turtles have been found dead.

Others have been rescued, but the tar can poison them and block their digestive tract.

They are therefore treated with mayonnaise, which breaks down the tar, detaches it from the wall of their intestine and allows them to eat, as shown in this video from our partner Brut.

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