Aisha

Aisha’s Story

Aisha is a sub-adult olive ridley that was found floating and unable to dive by the water villas of Niyama Resort in Dhaalu Atoll. Resort staff rescued her and promptly called us for advice. Due to bad weather, Aisha had to split her journey in two phases. She first had to spend a night at Niyama Resort. The next day she travelled to our North Malé Atoll Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at One & Only Reethi Rah, where sea turtle biologist, Philippa, took care of her over night. She finally arrived at the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre two days later, on Saturday, the 4th November.

Aisha has partially lost her back left flipper (an older injury that has already healed) and recently suffered a severe trauma to the left front flipper and lateral side of her carapace. Her humerus bone is completely exposed and she is undergoing critical care for her wounds.

Thankfully, Aisha is settling in her new enclosure and eating well. While she is being stabilised, she has been started on therapy to treat her infection and pain relief. 

14 November 2023
Unfortunately, Aisha has started to pass some plastic material and synthetic rope in her faeces which we are keeping a close watch on.

12 December 2023
Aisha has shown great improvements these past weeks. She hasn’t passed any more plastic material in her faeces. We performed surgery to debride her injuries and remove the remaining humerus bone from her left side. Since then she is more comfortable. Her amputation site and carapace injuries have been healing nicely.

She continues to receive Photobiomodulation Therapy (cold laser) for wound healing optimisation and pain relief. We have put her on tailored dive training where we combine Targeted External Weight Therapy (TEWT) with buoy feeding sessions. Aisha is now gaining weight, strength and even eating better from the buoys. Despite missing both flippers on the left side, Aisha has started to dive! She is able to reach the bottom of her tank and stay submerged for longer periods. We have even seen her resting on the bottom. We couldn’t be more thrilled for her and how far she has come in such a short time.

8 January 2024
Aisha continues to exhibit remarkable strides in her recovery. All her wounds are displaying an impressive rate of healing. And, sespite the absence of both flippers on the left side, Aish has been diving well and resting on the bottom!

Our comprehensive approach to Aisha’s wound healing remains multifaceted, involving consistent wound cleaning, the application of manuka honey, and photobiomodulation therapy (cold laser treatment). As she continues to improve her buoyancy, we’ve begun to gradually reduce her External Targeted Weight Therapy.

Aisha’s progress emphasises the success of our combined therapeutic strategies and her own resilience in adapting to the challenges she faces.

11 February 2024
Aisha has successfully completed her External Targeted Weight Therapy and we are pleased to report that she can now fully control her buoyancy without any issues. Additionally, her wounds are healing at an impressive rate, improving noticeably with each passing week. We remain committed to her wound care plan, which includes meticulous cleaning of the area, application of manuka honey, and regular cold laser sessions.

12 March 2024
Aisha’s amputation site is showing considerable improvement and is almost fully healed now. We continue to provide her with regular wound care and cold laser therapy, but are now able to space treatments more. She has a voracious appetite and is gaining steady healthy weight.

7 April 2024
Aisha is recovering steadily with her amputation site almost fully healed and all her diagnostics supporting her strong health. She has flawless buoyancy control which means that the next stage of her rehabilitation process will include tailored dive training to prepare her for life at sea; we will need to assess how she can cope with obstacles and currents while having only two flippers to direct herself.

12 May 2024
Aisha’s amputation site has been steadily healing through regular wound cleaning and cold laser therapy sessions. Regrettably, she developed a bone infection in one of her digits from the remaining front flipper, which we are closely monitoring. Despite this, she has exhibited no signs of discomfort.

9 June 2024
Aisha remains stable – her bone infection is not progressing and she is using her flipper normally. We continue to treat her with laser therapy and regular wound debridement and are closely monitoring her amputation site as it heals. Aisha has been showing a keen preference for prawns this month.

7 July 2024
Aisha has undergone surgical debridement of her amputation site. She is quieter than usual and the team is monitoring her closely and adjusting her medical therapy as required.

11 August 2024
Aisha is showing improvement this month. A small bone infection on her right knee is stabilising with careful medical therapy and cold laser sessions. We continue to provide her with regular wound care for her amputation site and she is responding well to conservative management, although a full recovery will still take some time. Her appetite is somewhat inconsistent, but prawns and ghost crabs remain her favourites!

8 September 2024
Aisha has shown noticeable progress over the last month. The bone infection in her right knee remains stable as we continue to administer medical care and cold laser treatments. We are regularly attending to her amputation site, and she is responding positively to the conservative approach. Aisha has even begun to rest at the bottom of her tank this month!

6 October 2024
Aisha is responding well to the targeted medical therapy and regular wound care that we continue to administer. Her progress fluctuates and she has good days along with some slower days where she’s a bit fussier with her food, although prawns remain her favourite. We have also upgraded Aisha to one of our medium-sized tanks which giver her a much larger space. She is enjoying the new environmental enrichment devices that we added to her enclosure, especially those that allow her to rest beneath while gently scrubbing her shell.

10 November 2024
We are continuing with Aisha´s cold laser and medical therapies, and she is gradually regaining mobility in her right front flipper. We are also happy to see that she is becoming increasingly active and we have even observed her diving to the bottom of her tank! Aisha is still quite fussy about her food, preferring prawns above all else.

8 December 2024
Aisha has regained her appetite and is now less picky. We have discontinued her medical therapy, but we continue to clean her wounds regularly and provide cold laser therapy sessions.

12 January 2025
Over the last month, Aisha´s appetite has remained strong and she is no longer picky about her food. She also really enjoys interacting with her Environmental Enrichment Device! She has remained stable since we discontinued all medical therapy, and we are still conducting regular wound cleaning and cold laser therapy sessions.

9 February 2025
Aisha is eating well and, on her better days, even managing to eat silver skin—a part of tuna she usually dislikes. She continues to enjoy interacting with her environmental enrichment device, and the wound on her left front flipper is improving with regular wound care and laser therapy sessions.

9 March 2025
Aisha has been progressing well over the last month. We are encouraged to see that she is moving her right front flipper again, so we started to place her food on submerged buoys to encourage her to move more. The wound on her left side is healing really well and we continue to administer regular wound care and laser therapy.

6 April 2025
Aisha has been doing very well over the last month. We have observed her successfully submerging and even resting at the bottom of the small tank! She is also now able to eat from the tank floor, which is a good sign of improvement. Her amputation wound continues to heal well, and we are continuing her regular treatments, including topical and laser therapies.

11 May 2025
We have moved Aisha from the small to the medium tank, and she is adapting well. To support her diving, we resumed Targeted External Weight Therapy and brought back stationary buoy feeding to reinforce the behaviour. Her appetite remains strong, and her amputation wound continues to heal with regular treatments that include topical and integrative therapies