A giant turtle attempts to drag a tourist underwater while on vacation in Turkey. The tourist was visiting Antalya in Turkey, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea when the incident occurred.
Lidia Bazarova, 64, is a pensioner, who was visiting the country and ambushed by the giant sea turtle. She mentioned that
Bazarova needed hospital treatment for the attack at Antalya beach resort Güzeolaba. She said ‘I was really close to shore – some 3 or 4 meters – when I just turned onto my back. Reports state that her injuries were so severe that she struggled to sit comfortably.
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1. What happened?
The turtle attack happened suddenly. Lidia suffered wounds on her buttocks, hip, legs, and fingers from the sharp beak and powerful jaw.
According to the Daily Mail, the tourist was swimming when the sea turtle suddenly grabbed her. It let go only to bite her with even more force. “I was beating about the water with my arms, I was drowning” she told the Daily Mail.
The unlikely predator only released its grip when a lifeguard came running over and shouted at the sea turtle. Supposedly, the creature shifted its attention, allowing for the tourist to get away.
2. Why the attack?
One Turkish expert Professor Mehmet Gökoğlu explained turtles may attack humans if they invade their ‘living space’.
Lidia’s daughter Kamila expressed gratitude to the lifeguard but wants a warning sign near the site of the attack. Apparently, on a separate occasion, a man and woman were bitten by giant sea turtles while swimming in the area.
She reported coming to this specific spot regularly during her stay at resort Güzeolaba. She hadn’t had problems before this attack. The loggerhead sea turtle – named the Caretta Caretta – is carnivorous, and can even weigh as much as a dairy cow.
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