Executive Chef Matt Boland goes swimming and snorkeling almost every day, for various reasons, he explains, but mostly as a stress-busting, calorie-burning activity. Over the past years he has charted the waters around the hotels and he especially favors the area across from the Tamarijn beach resort where sea turtles live.
Chef Matt has been tracking an ailing turtle for a while, in that area, perhaps he got caught in a lot of fishing line and got tangled, but as a result he was suffering from large growths, which the Chef Matt and his friend Dave Marr from Boston cut off him, and he seemed really happy and grateful, when they encountered him on consequent visits.
This year, following the tropical ocean conditions in September, the underwater landscape was changed and Chef Matt could not find Fibro, which became the turtle’s nickname, you know from fibro-something, the name of his disease, which Chef Matt can never remember since it has nothing to do with herbs or French cuisine . . . and he has been looking for him for about 5 months and feared for the worst because all of the turtle’s favorite usual hiding spots shifted.
Saturday when Dave and Sheila came to visit from Boston they went out and to snorkel and Dave said “I want to see that turtle,” he was determined. So they looked, and looked, and looked, and like it was “meant to be,” found him. He is alive and well, some of the growths on his shell are gone, and the dauntless snorkelers observed him peacefully munching on grass and “he was happy to see us,” says Chef Matt, “he came up for a few breaths and swam with us for a while …wow  . . . it was an unforgettable moment.”
Pictured here Chef Matt above and under water. Also pictures of Fibro being treated from February 08 and April 08 and then the recent encounter on January 09. Chef Matt is the Executive Chef of the Radisson Aruba Resort Casino & Spa.
