Meet Luna, a Baby Olive Ridley Turtle
Luna is a juvenile Olive Ridley turtle who was found entangled in plastic by 6 Senses Laamu. Luna was first taken to Marine Savers Kuda Huraa, who determined she needed medical care, and sent Luna to us by sea plane.
Intake Date: 25th February 2018
Length: 15 cm
Weight: 300 g
Status: Released 25th April 2018
Baby Luna’s injuries from plastic entanglement included soft tissue injuries and a bone fracture of the front left flipper, just below the elbow. The wound was deep, but, thankfully, blood supply was preserved. We also suspected an infection. To allow the bone to heal, we placed Luna’s flipper in a splint.
When she arrived, Luna could not dive. However, she picked food from the bottom of tub when the water was shallow. After about a week at the Rescue Centre, Luna started diving in the small tank. She was also biting her bandage!
Although Luna’s wound healed nicely, the bone in her fractured flipper was not very mobile. Her flipper remained swollen. To make sure nothing was broken, we took her for an x-ray at Eydafushi hospital. The x-ray revealed no broken bones, but we did find evidence of infection in the bone and, possibly, dislocation of her left flipper.
After three weeks of recovery, we removed the bandage and splint. The flipper was still slightly swollen, but she started swimming with much more agility. She remained at the Rescue Centre for 2 months before her flipper was completely healed. She was a voracious eater from the day she arrived and gained 400 grams and grew 2 cm in length and 2 cm in width, during her stay.
On April 25th 2018 Luna was released back into the ocean. She swam away like a bullet, never looking back, happy to be free again in the big wide ocean.
