Bulbul

Bulbul, which is the name of a small songbird, is an adult female olive ridley. She was found entangled in a ghost net with Iru by the Odi Watersports team based at Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu (where we are based) in Baa Atoll. They promptly called our veterinary team, who carefully disentangled both turtles and safely retrieved them off the water.

Bulbul has deep ligature injuries to both her front flippers and left hind flipper, and abrasions to her carapace and head. She is in overall good body condition, but her blood work shows signs of infection and her X-rays showed a fracture on both humeri.

The veterinary team has started her on medical therapy and is waiting for Bulbul to stabilise before performing surgery on her. So far she is settling in well and has already starting eating!

8 January 2024
Bulbul recovered well from the surgical procedure. Currently, Bulbul is exhibiting natural behaviours, diving to the bottom of her tank and resting comfortably, though she is not utilising her front flippers at the moment.

Our team’s focused therapeutic approach aims to salvage functionality in both of Bulbul’s front limbs. This involves a combination of platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) and photobiomodulation (PBM), complemented by regular wound debridement to stimulate healing and regeneration. Our commitment is to restore as much functional movement as possible for Bulbul’s continued well-being.

11 February 2024
Bulbul’s injuries are showing positive progress. She is responding remarkably well to a series of surgical procedures, cold laser sessions, and platelet-rich plasma injections. Regrettably, she still experiences reduced range of motion in both front flippers due to a bone infection in her shoulders. We have adapted her medical therapy to address this new challenge. After a couple of weeks of reduced appetite, Bulbul has resumed eating well and has shown increased interest in her surroundings.

12 March 2024
Bulbul’s wounds are nearly fully healed and she is showing improved range of motion in both her front flippers, using them more frequently in and out of water. She also resumed diving after a prolonged hiatus and is frequently seen resting at the bottom. We remain dedicated to enhancing her front flipper mobility through the use of cold laser therapy sessions.

7 April 2024
Bulbul spends most of her time exploring the different water levels in her tank and resting on the bottom. She is maintaining a great appetite which has increased her weight. Her ligature injuries are almost fully healed. The team is now focusing on starting a physiotherapy programme to promote her front flipper mobility and range of motion.

12 May 2024
Bulbul is now completely off any medical treatment and remains stable. She’s independently feeding off the bottom of the tank and continues to exhibit steady healing of her ligature injuries. Her left front flipper has fully healed, and the right one is responding positively to the cold laser therapy sessions. We’re persistently engaging her in physiotherapy sessions, aiming to further enhance the range of motion in both limbs.

9 June 2024
Bulbul continues to thrive off all medical therapy. She demonstrates all natural behaviours such as foraging and resting at the bottom of her tank as well as excellent buoyancy control. She is also enjoying interacting with her environmental enrichment device. Her right front flipper is almost completely healed and her left front flipper is responding well to the physiotherapy sessions.

7 July 2024
Bulbul continues to do well, exhibiting normal behaviours and good buoyancy control. We are focusing on further improving her range of motion in her left front flipper through continued laser and physiotherapy sessions, and we are seeing some improvement.

11 August 2024
For Bulbul’s treatment, we are focusing on improving the range of motion in her front flippers through cold laser therapy and physiotherapy. She is very curious about her surroundings and enjoys interacting with the environmental enrichment devices in her enclosure. Bulbul is known as the vacuum cleaner of the Rescue Centre, leaving no pieces of food behind!

8 September 2024
Bulbul spends most of her time resting at the bottom of her tank when she is not foraging around for her food, which is always her favourite part of the day. We continue to provide her with physiotherapy and cold laser therapy to help improve the range of motion in her front flippers.

2 October 2024
We are thrilled to announce that Bulbul has finally been released! After several months without the need for medical treatment, she continued with physiotherapy and cold laser therapy to improve the range of motion in her front flippers. Bulbul was a character at the Rescue Centre, always curious yet very gentle. She had excellent buoyancy control and would eagerly eat everything offered, just like a vacuum cleaner.

Although her front flippers still have room for improvement, the veterinary team is confident she can continue her recovery in the wild and has cleared her for release. Bulbul was released by boat on a clear, calm day, where the visibility was excellent, allowing us to watch her disappear into the turquoise blue waters.