Meet KG, A Sub Adult Hawksbill from Male Atoll
KG is a subadult hawksbill sea turtle that came to us from Marine Savers in Male Atoll. She has a penetrating wound through her left flipper believed to be from a spear gun. Poaching of this species of turtle still occurs because of their beautiful shell.
Intake Date: 4th September 2019
Length: 54.5 cm
Weight: 14.4 kg
Status: Returned to Marine Savers to be released on her home reef 1st December 2019
KG has been adopted by Sama, James Fensome, for Emmie-Grace by Scott Lea and for Emma by Mark Roney.
KG has a bone infection, but luckily the bone was not damaged by the spear. Her nerves are also intact, so she is one lucky turtle. If the injury was a little to the left, it would have been a different story.
She had surgery on the 06/09/19 to remove all the dead tissue and and now the long healing process begins. KG will be having dressing changes daily until there is a healthy bed of granulation tissue present. She may require follow up anaesthetics for further debridement of the wounds. Currently she is having daily wound care, antibiotics and pain relief.
KG is a very shy turtle and has only just started eating crabs after being fed at night.
23 September 2019
KG is still being incredibly fussy with her food. Now she will only eat squid! Her recovery is going slowly, but her wounds are looking better this week. We are keeping a close eye on her bone infection.
1 October 2019
KG is now eating everything put in front of her. She has been more active and more comfortable with her injured flipper. Her healing is progressing well, and she will be having more time with her bandages off. She has also been a hit with the guests this week.
7 October 2019
KG is healing well and enjoying visits from guests. Her flipper wounds continue to improve with regular treatments. She is still on antibiotics for her bone infection and we will x-ray her this week to see how it is looking.
14 October 2019
KG’s wounds are looking a lot better. The holes are filling in and the skin is starting to grow back. Unfortunately, her bone infection was worse on the x-ray. Visiting Vet Dr. Francesco bought some medication and we have now switched her to the new drug in the hope that the infection will resolve. Another x-ray will be taken two weeks from the commencement of the antibiotic.
21 October 2019
KG has been using her injured flipper well this week. She is due for an x-ray to check on her bone infection – which is hopefully resolving. Her wounds are healing well and her appetite is fantastic.
28 October 2019
KG is still making progress. It has been a long road for her. The bone infection is still present, but we hope we have finally got on top of it. She is due another x-ray on the 4th of November and we hope to see improvement. She will continue on antibiotics at this stage.
4 November 2019
KG is had an x-ray this week to reassess her bone infection. Her bone infection has finally appeared to have halted. Her wounds are looking better but she still requires regular wound care. She remains on antibiotics but has been using her flipper well this week.
18 November 2019
KG has been using her flipper really well! We are very happy with her progress. We are stopping one of her antibiotics and continuing for another 2 weeks on the other, and will give her a repeat x-ray to make sure all is ok.
25 November 2019
KG is preparing for release! She will head back to Marine Savers Kuda Huraa by sea plane towards the end of the week to be released near the reef where she was found. She will be happy to leave us behind, but we will certainly miss her and her maneuvers to evade capture for her injections. This is one incredibly intelligent turtle! We hope she stays safe when she is back home in her reef.
2 December 2019
KG has gone back to Male atoll. She took a flight to Marine Savers on December 1st. The marine biologist said she arrived safely and we are looking forward to her release soon.
