Meet Artemis (Artimus), A Juvenile Olive Ridley Missing a Flipper
Arti is the smallest of the juvenile olive ridley turtles currently at the Rescue Centre. He was sent to us from Atoll Marine Centre where he had been in residence for a month.
Intake Date: 27th February 2019
Length: 26 cm
Weight: 1.8 kg
Status: Deceased 25th September 2020
Arti has been adopted for Noelie, Andrin, Florian and Mattia by Pierino Avoledo, by Justus Tomczak, for Phoebe Rose by Donna Watson, by Mandy and Kevin Briggs, Marion Hasse, Claudia Ploner, Fouke Ombelet, Asia Kubeluk, for Leila by Paul, by Sofie, for Nikoleta by Laura, by Fiona Whitelaw, for Ellis by Scott Lea, by Emily C Fensome, Elsie Gabriel, for Jenny by Penny Scudamore, for Luciana by Tania & Ugo, by Sandra & Markus Gebhartl, for Max by Vanessa Bohling, for Gemma by Mark Turner, by Paul Magneville & Marin Flattot, Sarah Harrison, Xenia, for Winter Ann by Lisa & Tim, for Kimberly by Anita Gallant, by Jimmy Self & Shaun Vazquez, Joel Weaver Jr., Samantha Jennifer Cruz, Erica Stark, Paul, Anya, Lilli, Abby, Björn and Kerri Slivka.
Deceased
Artemis arrived missing a front flipper and with the other front flipper not working very well. We X-rayed Artemis and found a badly broken bone in his remaining front flipper. This wound was old and it would be unlikely that we could heal these bones. However, we performed several surgeries the the hope that he would regain some function once the infection in his flipper improved.
Artemis stared doing better and turned out to be a very special patient. He is unique and odd in all ways and a true character. Some days he will be buoyant and struggles to dive, other days he is happily on the bottom. For a while, his appetite fluctuated and some days he would spit his food out.
After his most recent surgery, Artemis started using his front flipper more and become more confident with his swimming. He is began to dive after fish, and he was quite happy living with his tank mate Eve.
20 July 2019
Artemis finally managed to do a dive after 5 months at the Rescue Centre! He seemed pretty pleased with himself. Always such a cutie, he is now in a small pool and he often hangs out near the glass so he can spy on us. He had an x-ray (he’s so small he fits on one plate) and he had some gas in his gastrointestinal tract. We tried to worm him, but the taste of the tablets was not nice, so he spat them out. We are currently coming up with a plan B to get him to swallow his tablets!
To encourage him to dive, Artemis has been having some ocean swims. He enjoys the big space, but stays very close to us as he knows his swimming ability is not the best. He is eating and growing well and continues to make everyone smile.
27 July 2019
This week Artemis has been trying to dive. He has a big heart and he won’t give up. One day he will manage to get to the bottom!
3 August 2019
Artemis has been out for more ocean swims this week. He likes trying to chase the fish. There are many guests that love him and come to watch him swim in the sea. Always a happy go lucky little guy.
10 August 2019
Artemis is still a cutie. He has taken a few ocean swims this week and he now has a small pool all to himself. He is a quirky little guy with his own unusual swimming style. However, he swims quite normally when food is involved. He is still buoyant.
17 August 2019
Still a happy go lucky fella, Artemis uses his quirky swimming style and has regular ocean swims. His appetite is good, and, although he is growing in size, he is still our smallest patient.
26 August 2019
Artemis had a sore left eye this week. His eye was closed one morning and he wasn’t interested in food – which is quite unlike him. After some pain relief, he was back to his old self. He is currently on eye drops for this issue.
2 September 2019
Artemis is back to his usual self this week. He has had a rest from ocean swims but will most likely have a swim this week. He is enjoying having one of the small tanks all to himself.
11 September 2019
Artemis is being spoiled by the volunteers this week. He is incredibly cheeky and makes everyone laugh. Still no luck with his diving, but he keeps practicing.
23 September 2019
Artemis is hilarious as usual. He has enjoyed his enrichment this week; the ball initially angered him as it invaded his personal space, then it frightened him when he bit it and it moved, and then he spent the rest of the day pushing it around. The little guy was happy he could push something around that was bigger than him!
1 October 2019
Artemis is still trying to dive, but not very successfully. He is a tough cookie and will never give up. A lot of the guests gravitated towards him this week and he has stolen many hearts.
7 October 2019
Arti has had a feeding platform installed in his tank. This allows him to make an attempt to dive to pick his food up off the platform. He was initially scared of the change but is now using the platform quite happily.
14 October 2019
Arti is still using his feeding platform well and being his usual quirky self. We also gave him a black PVC pipe which has become a favourite toy. He likes to fall asleep with his head in the pipe.
21 October 2019
Arti is well and eating and playing like a champ. He likes watching the guests out of his window. He cruises around his tank, but unfortunately there is still no improvement with his buoyancy syndrome.
28 October 2019
Arti is his cheeky old self this week; he has been playing with his ball and checking out the new guests. He will go on a sea swim in the coming week.
4 November 2019
This week, Arti went for a sea swim in the ocean! He had a great time in the calm conditions. We will aim to take him out once a week.
18 November 2019
Artie has been well and has been enjoying his sea swims. He is cheeky and always shows his playful attitude off to the guests.
25 November 2019
Arti has a new tank mate as we had to make space for new arrivals. He is in a tank with the other baby, Kaushell. He seems to really enjoy the company and they are getting along well!
2 December 2019
Arti is still enjoying his sea swims. We took him out to the sea grass bed this week and he enjoyed the different scenery. He always protests when it is time to come back in. His tank mate Kaushell and he are still getting along well.
9 December 2019
Arti loves hanging out with Kaushell. He likes his alone time though when he goes for his sea swims. He has had lots of guest visits this week!
16 December 2019
Arti missed out on a sea swim this week due to awful weather as the monsoon continues on. He is doing very well and is happy with his tankmates.
23 December 2019
Arti missed out on a sea swim again this week due to the bad weather, and he is not happy about it! Otherwise, Arti is doing well. He had a check up this week with a blood test and some xrays. Apart from the fact that he is buoyant, he is a bit fat, so his food intake will be reduced.
30 December 2019
The weather has finally cleared up and we were able to take Art for a sea swim this week. He really enjoyed himself in the sea but was happy to see Kaushell, his bestie, when he came back to the Rescue Centre.
13 January 2020
Arti is his amazing old self. He is a favourite among the guests. He is as curious as ever and we frequently catch him peering through the glass to see what we’re up to.
28 January 2020
Arti is his usual happy self, but is no less buoyant so spends all his time at the surface of the water. He has Vaseline shell protection applied once a week after his spa treatment to remove the algae on his shell.
3 February 2020
Arti is now rooming with Crash. Arti enjoys having company and he doesn’s seem to mind too much that Kaushell has gone home. He still eats well and looks intently though the glass at us.
10 February 2020
Arti is now back on his own in his tank. The little guy is holding up well without his friends. He went on a sea swim this week and had a glorious time!
17 February 2020
Arti is doing well and has many new admirers. One resort guest from Germany visited him every day, and when she had to fly home she cried because she was so sad to leave him. Guests do get attached to the cute little guy.
25 February 2020
Arti has been his usual self this week. There were rough seas this week so he missed out on a sea swim, but we are hoping to go next week. The cutest thing little Arti does is cock his head to the side to look up at us.
2 March 2020
Arti had a sea swim and kept the volunteer supervising him on her toes! He likes to surprise you by creeping close enough to try and take a nip! He never gets us though, but still ends up with a grin on his face.
26 March 2020
Artemis is getting all of the attention as always. We gave him a hollow toy this week – first off he was very scared, then a little curious, and after a while he fell asleep with his head in it! His swimming is gradually improving (we encourage him to swim as much as possible during feeding) but he still cannot dive. He hasn’t been for a sea swim this week but we’re hoping to get him out next week.
6 April 2020
Artemis was more nervous on his sea swim this week. He didn’t move too much but he was busy watching the fish and playing with floating seaweed! Arti’s swimming is looking really good when he’s feeding so we will bring something to entice him on his next sea swim.
13 April 2020
Arti is loving the attention he’s getting from the Coco Palm staff this week! He is feisty as always and very curious.
19 April 2020
Arti has been moved to a bigger tank this week after the release of Fidji and Mascha, and he seems to love it! It’s great motivation for him to practice his swimming.
26 April 2020
Arti is eating and swimming well. He’s been playing with his tube that he seems to love so much, and falling asleep inside it as usual! It’s great to see him making the most of the bigger tank too.
3 May 2020
Arti is refusing to swim on his sea swims so we will start to take him more regularly so that he feels more comfortable and gets used to the change in environment.
10 May 2020
Arti seems to love the freedom he has in one of the big tanks. We catch him almost every morning asleep inside his toy and we can’t reach him to wake him up!
26 May 2020
Over the past few weeks, Arti has become a little more comfortable in the sea. We will continue to work on building his confidence and encourage him to swim as much as possible.
24 June 2020
Arti is doing well. He has been a little more active during his sea swims recently and has started to use his front flipper more. He is still quite nervous in the sea so we will keep taking him out regularly so that he can become more comfortable and hopefully improve his swimming.
23 July 2020
Arti still cannot dive and he hasn’t been very active on his sea swims. The only way he can be motivated to swim is with food!
25 September 2020
We are extremely sad to let you know that we have lost Arti. He was undergoing a procedure to address his ongoing buoyancy issues when he suffered complications that, unfortunately, led him to pass away. It is always devastating when we lose a patient, especially one who has been with us for so long and touched so many people’s hearts.
From Arti’s post mortem we discovered that his lungs were damaged beyond repair, and it was apparent that he would never have been able to dive again. We cannot tell if the damage to his lungs were caused by the persistent buoyancy or if he had suffered from a previous medical issue like pneumonia.
We know Arti was a favourite of many of you, and we want to thank you all for supporting and adopting him over the years. Your contributions helped not only him but will go on to help more turtles that have suffered the same fate of being caught in ghost nets.
