By adopting one of our current turtle patients, you will be contributing towards the veterinary care and support they need to heal and be released back to the wild.
Your digital adoption package includes:
- A personalised adoption certificate with the details of your adopted turtle patient
- A fact sheet about sea turtles and our work to protect them
- Regular updates on how your adopted turtle’s recovery is going
- Personal notification in the case of release
Adopt a turtle patient in 3 easy steps:
- Pick your favourite turtle patient below.
- Choose an annual donation of £100, or a monthly donation of £10 (or more if you wish).
- Complete the rest of the form with your details to finalise your adoption.
Please note: We are a small charity, so it may take up to 5 business days for us to email your digital adoption package to you. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
More information about your adoption:
- For data protection and compliance purposes, we do not contact gift recipients directly. The digital adoption package makes it easy for you to share it with the person you are gifting it to by email or printing and giving it to them in person.
- An annual donation of £100 covers the symbolic adoption of a single patient until it is released or up to one year. After this time, you will no longer receive email updates about your turtle patient. If your adopted turtle patient is still in our care after 12 months, we will contact you to ask if you would like to renew your adoption and continue to receive email updates.
- For monthly donations:
- You will receive email updates about your adopted turtle patient as long as your monthly payments remain active.
- When the turtle patient you’ve adopted is released, we will share the good news with you and we will switch your adoption over to another turtle patient in our care, keeping you updated about their progress. You can cancel your payment, if you don’t want to adopt another turtle patient.
- Please understand that even with our expert treatment and care, some sea turtles we rescue and treat may not survive.
Noora’s story
Noora, a juvenile olive ridley turtle, was found floating and badly injured in Haa Alifu Atoll, Maldives, in June 2025. Lying in the far north of the Maldives, Haa Alifu Atoll is a long way from our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll. Although Noora underwent an unusually long transfer, our team is experienced in managing such transport logistics, and after two days she arrived at our Rescue Centre.
Noora arrived with multiple injuries including cuts, broken bones in her flippers and damage to the top and bottom of her shell. It looks like she may have been entangled in fishing gear or hit by something large. The good news is that she is alert, active and feeds eagerly with an amazing appetite, one of the best signs we can see for recovery. Healing broken flippers takes time, but with her resilience and our expert care, we’re hopeful Noora will make a full recovery.
Theen’s story
Theen is a juvenile olive ridley sea turtle who was found during a snorkelling trip in Baa Atoll, Maldives, in May 2025. A local guide spotted floating ghost nets and discovered Theen entangled within them. She was released from the ghost net, but was unable to dive, so she was retrieved and transferred by speedboat to our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll.
When she first arrived, Theen couldn’t dive properly and had trouble moving her left front flipper. We are giving her regular flipper exercises to help build back her strength, and now she’s diving confidently to the bottom of her tank to grab her food. Theen is still a bit anaemic, which can affect energy levels and slow down healing, but she is showing great strength and remarkable progress.
Dharifulhu’s story
Dharifulhu is an adult female olive ridley sea turtle found floating by a research expedition in South Ari Atoll, Maldives, in May 2025. After being observed floating on the surface for some time, Dharifulhu was brought onboard and transferred to our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll.
Dharifulhu is missing her front right and her left hind flipper. She is also suffering from severe anaemia and reduced organ function. At first, she was too stressed and unwell to eat, but with gentle care and patience, she’s now adjusted to her new environment and eats well with help from our team using feeding tongs. Despite everything she’s been through, Dharifulhu is proof of just how resilient these amazing creatures can be.
Vindhu’s story
Vindhu, an adult male olive ridley sea turtle, was discovered entangled in a ghost net in North Ari Atoll, Maldives, in April 2025. He was released from the net but was unable to dive, remaining buoyant at the surface. Vindhu was retrieved, and with the support of Trans Maldivian Airways, was transferred to our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre, in Baa Atoll.
Vindhu has suffered wounds to both his front flippers, and he is suffering from Buoyancy Syndrome, which prevents him from being able to dive to rest and feed. Despite his injuries, Vindhu is definitely the most energetic sea turtle in our care and he keeps our team on their toes with his feisty personality! He’s excelling at his feeding training and has a great appetite, this energy and enthusiasm tell us he’s heading in the right direction.
Karaa’s story
Karaa, an adult male olive ridley sea turtle, was discovered entangled in a ghost net in Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives, in March 2024. Trans Maldivian Airways kindly transferred him by seaplane to our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll.
Karaa had suffered a severe injury to his left front flipper, and despite our veterinary team´s best efforts to salvage it, the damage was irreparable and it had to be amputated. Karaa has been progressing well since the procedure, showing a healthy appetite and renewed energy. His efforts during dive training sessions give us lots of reasons to be optimistic, and we are hopeful that he will soon begin diving independently. Patience is key with sea turtle rehabilitation, and Karaa’s progress shows us that slow and steady really does win the race.
Nakaiy’s story
Nakaiy, an adult female adult olive ridley sea turtle, was rescued from a ghost net in Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives, in November 2023. The next day, Trans Maldivian Airways flew her by seaplane to our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in Baa Atoll.
Nakaiy had entanglement injuries around her neck, mouth and front left flipper, which was severely injured and diseased. We immediately started providing critical care in the hope of keeping the flipper, which was successful! Nakaiy is recovering from a serious bone infection in both her front flippers. She’s no longer on medication, which is great progress, but we´re still providing daily physiotherapy to help her learn to use her flippers again. Bone infections take time to heal completely, but Nakaiy’s quiet determination and the small improvements we see each week give us hope.
Fida’s story
Fida, a juvenile olive ridley sea turtle, was found in Noonu Atoll, Maldives, in August 2022. She was floating on the surface, weak and struggling to breathe and swim. She had lost her right front flipper and half of her rear right flipper, where the bone was exposed.
Our initial treatment focused on fluid therapy for hydration, pain control, prevention of infection and regular wound treatment. In her first month, we conducted a deep wound debridement, after which she became more active and even chased after her food, turning in both directions during feeding. Despite having lost both right flippers, she can still swim speedily in a straight line. She is very food motivated, and attempts to dive, however it is very hard work for her, with only two flippers! A year and three months after her arrival, we transferred Fida to our North Malé Atoll Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at One&Only, where she is under the care of our sea turtle biologist and the veterinary team’s direct supervision. There she has a large tank to swim and dive in.
Treating and rehabilitating sick and injured sea turtles is a long and costly process. There are costs for surgical equipment and drugs, medicine, and food. And many patients require specialist surgery, plasma therapy, laser therapy – sometimes all three – to recover from wounds and infection. And it can often take many months for rescued sea turtles to be healthy and strong enough to dive and forage for food again successfully. Only then can they be returned to the wild.
