LUCENA CITY – Environmentalists helped an Olive Ridley marine turtle, known here as pawikan, return to the sea on Saturday after the creature was found by a fisherman struggling along the coast of Tayabas Bay.

Members of the group christened the turtle “Thalia,” after the popular female character in the Mexican telenovela “Marimar.”

The female Olive Ridley, measuring 66 centimeters wide and 64 cm long, was tagged and identified as PH 7141 by the local office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Area and Wildlife Services.

On May 5, the sea turtle was spotted by fisherman Angel Martinez in Barangay Bantigue in Pagbilao town near Pueblo Por La Playa resort.

The fishermen sought the help of authorities on how to handle the turtle before she could be safely released back to the sea.

Members and leaders of the environmentalist group contacted Oscar Ferrer, head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office based in Pagbilao, for the documentation.

Environmentalist lawyer Shiela de Leon, head of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog and Ferrer, stood as principal sponsors in Thalia’s baptism.

After a local veterinarian administered a final check on the condition of the turtle, the group of environmentalists brought her in a sailboat to a deep portion of the bay.

Amid applause and shouts of farewell, Thalia was released to the sea.

Irene Arquilita, local Philippine Animal Welfare Society chief, said she suspected that Thalia had just finished laying eggs somewhere near the resort.

Workers searched the area for the nest that Thalia might have left behind to protect it.

In March, residents of Lucena’s coastal village of Barra released more than 50 hatchlings of Hawksbill turtles back into Tayabas Bay, signaling the emergence of the sea in front of Quezon, Batangas and Marinduque provinces as a haven for endangered marine species.

Once a marine habitat ruined by destructive fishing practices, the Tayabas Bay off Quezon and Batangas is now a sanctuary for endangered sea turtles.

Since the TK launched the “Save the Endangered Species Campaign” in 2003, more than a hundred turtles have been released in Tayabas Bay.