Local Man Attempts to Turn Sri Lanka into Underwater Wonderland
A wannabe oceanographer with a penchant for the peculiar was foiled in his bid to transform Sri Lanka into a tropical aquarium yesterday. Customs officials at Bandaranaike International Airport were left scratching their heads – and probably their gills – when they intercepted a local businessman attempting to smuggle in a veritable Noah’s Ark of aquatic life.
The 50-year-old Thalawathugoda resident, who clearly had a bigger fish to fry than running a legitimate business, was found to be carrying a whopping 365 live fish and turtles. We can only imagine the chaos at immigration when his luggage started gurgling.
Claiming the creatures were a gift for a friend who must have an extremely large fish tank, the suspect is now facing a whole lot of questions from authorities. We’re guessing his defense will be something along the lines of, “Your Honor, I was just trying to help the turtle population!”
Meanwhile, wildlife conservationists are breathing a sigh of relief. With turtles taking a good 25 years to reach maturity, this particular shipment could have seriously messed with nature’s timetable. We can only hope this incident serves as a deterrent to future underwater smuggling attempts.
