They say tossing a coin into a fountain will bring you good luck - but it was quite the opposite for a sea turtle which had to have 915 coins removed from its stomach.

The 25-year-old female sea turtle called Omsin, nicknamed Bank, spent years swallowing the money thrown into a pool in a park in Thailand by tourists.

The array of currencies eventually formed a heavy ball in her belly weighing 5kg (11lbs) and eventually cracked her shell, causing a life-threatening infection.

Omsin underwent a gruelling seven-hour operation as specialist veterinary surgeons removed a few coins at a time.

Image: A public appeal raised donations to pay for the operation

The turtle was found in the eastern town of Sri Racha.


A 3D scan revealed she had two fish hooks inside her, which were also removed.

Nantarika Chansue, head of Chulalongkorn University's veterinary medical aquatic animal research centre, said she was furious when she realised what was causing the turtle to be in so much pain.

"I felt angry that humans, whether or not they meant to do it or if they did it without thinking, had caused harm to this turtle," she said.

A public appeal raised around 15,000 baht (£347) in donations to pay for the surgery.

Image: Some of the coins removed from Omsin's stomach

Omsin has been put on a liquid diet while she recovers at the university's animal hospital.

A green sea turtle can live up to 80 years and is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature

"The belief is that throwing coins into the turtle pond will make the coin-thrower live longer," Rungroj Thanawongnuvej, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Chulalongkorn, said in a statement.

"Throwing the coins is more bad karma because it is animal torture."