World3 min(s) read
Tourist sparks fury in Oman over act on sea turtle at beach as it was laying eggs
An influencer has been the subject of a furious backlash after photographs appeared online of him and his partner sitting on a sea turtle, despite it reportedly laying eggs on a beach in Oman.
Vadym Oleynik, a fitness influencer, was visiting the country with his partner, cosmetic doctor Olena Kravchenko, when the alleged incident took place in the Ras al Hadd area.
The images prompt backlash online
Images shared online appear to show the Ukrainian couple taking turns sitting on the back of a sea turtle, with the pair also accused of picking up newly hatched turtles, according to reports.
Oleynik, who describes himself as a world calisthenics champion and Master of Sport in combat sambo, and Kravchenko were reportedly accompanied by volunteers from an environmental organization involved in monitoring turtle nesting in the area.
Despite being accompanied by experts, the pair clearly weren’t deterred from posing for photographs, prompting a furious response from conservationists, with one environmental group accusing those involved of exploiting the animal for pictures posted to social media.
Italian conservation project Biologicamente was among the first organizations to draw attention to the images, the group wrote: "These images speak for themselves. The photographs were published on a profile with 200,000 followers."
It claimed the person responsible had subsequently faced a wave of criticism and disabled comments on the social media post.
"Obviously, the author has already received a generous dose of abuse and was forced to disable the comments section. But he immediately defended himself, claiming that he had done nothing wrong, had broken no laws and had not behaved improperly."
The conservation project also questioned how anyone connected to a legitimate scientific operation could have allowed such behavior to materialize without warning.
It claimed that a serious organisation with a scientific committee "would NEVER allow its volunteers to sit on a turtle's shell just to take a s****y selfie".
"It is disgusting and unpleasant. This is exploitation, mistreatment and abuse - nothing resembling volunteering", the group added.
Oman's environment authority respond
Oman's Environment Authority subsequently addressed the incident, saying Oleynik's actions had breached laws and regulations designed to protect wildlife.
The authority said it had taken the "necessary legal action against the individual concerned, in accordance with applicable legislation,” with reports subsequently claiming that Oleynik and Kravchenko had been detained by police.
However, there has been no official confirmation that either of them was detained, and Oleynik has continued to share photographs and videos from his trip.
Oleynik has since apologized over the controversy, saying he was unaware of the relevant rules and insisting that he never intended to cause harm to the turtle.
"I didn't see the rules. I made a mistake and apologize to everyone," he claimed.