Eve

All Turtle Patients

Meet Eve, A Juvenile Olive Ridley Turtle

Eve was found at Como Resort, entangled in a ghost net.

Intake Date: 26th December 2018
Length: 32,5 cm
Weight: 3,5 kg
Status: Released 30th July 2020

Eve has been adopted by Christine Kueper, Milena Braunwalder, Oriana Malaika Zweifel, Andrew Flanagan, Pavol Frankovic & Eva Demesova, for Millie by Sheena Petts, by Martin and Kristina Wardelmann, by Mariah, for Nikoleta by Laura, by Evelien and Rob, Rebecca Staufenbiel, Simran, Team Shampoo Bars Netherlands, for Evelyn by Lyle Sharman, by Lou, for Tanya by Matthew, by Paigea and by Zachary Aaron Harris.

Eve had lost her back flipper already and a front flipper was severely damaged from the ghost net, with two broken bones and deep cuts the whole way round. We are trying to save this flipper. She has had surgery and a splint whilst it initially heals.

Eve recovered from her surgery and is doing well. She is diving and has lost her buoyancy. She is also very active and is eating well. We kept a close eye on her wound from the surgery, changing her bandage every 2 days and keeping her on antibiotics to prevent infection.

When we first removed Eve’s bandage, she used her flipper a little. However, after a few days she stopped using it and is just holding it by her body. We repeated the X-ray which showed that her bones were healing and is looking much better than previous X-rays. Despite this she was not using the flipper.

We performed a second correction surgery in the hope we could give her some more function in this flipper. She healed successfully from the second surgery, however, she developed a condition called Osteomyelitis, or bone infection, in her shoulder joint. This is unfortunately a common complication from ghost net entanglement. Bacteria from the bloodstream seeds to a joint causing infection and bone loss in that area.

As soon as we discovered the bone infection on an x-ray, we started treatment. The infection can spread into the body, destroy the shoulder blade and eventually enter the spine causing paralysis and death.

We have been monitoring Eve closely and we are very pleased with her progress after a month of treatment. Her shoulder joint is looking much better and bone is regenerating. She has started moving her flipper for the first time and we are helping her along by treating her with physiotherapy. She remains on antibiotics for the time being.

We started physiotherapy to try and loosen her joint as there is a lot of scar tissue there. We got mixed and inconclusive results from culturing her joint; there was some fungal growth so she potentially has a mixed fungal and bacterial infection in her joint – which could prove difficult to treat.

20 July 2019
Eve is still receiving short physiotherapy sessions daily and laser.  She is swimming quite well and is improving, but a little more slowly this week. She had her x-ray this week and the bones were clear of infection – which is great news! She just needs more time, muscle strengthening and laser to try and improve her scar tissue tightness.

27 July 2019
this week Eve is having time in the large tank to encourage her to use her right flipper. She is confident at diving and her appetite is great.

3 August 2019
Eve is still having her laser and physiotherapy. She has been using her flipper a little more this week. 

10 August 2019
Eve has made a few fans this week. The guests like watching her physio sessions. She is continuing to have massage and muscle strengthening exercises and is using her flipper on and off.   

17 August 2019
Eve has been having her physio this week and uses her right flipper off and on. She had some time in the large tank as it filled. We are still monitoring her use of the flipper and are encouraging her to use it as much as we can.

26 August 2019
Eve had a setback and stopped using her right flipper again. We took some more x-rays and discovered a small bone infection, so she has had pain relief and has been started on a course of antibiotics. She is not having physio at this time but she is still having laser therapy.

2 September 2019
Eve is continuing with her laser therapy. She is more comfortable with her right flipper as it is no longer tucked up by her side, but she is choosing not to use it. She is continuing on her course of antibiotics and is being monitored closely.

11 September 2019
Eve had laser and acupuncture this week. She has been using her right flipper better, which is good news. She is due for another x-ray soon and will continue with antibiotics at this time.

23 September 209
Eve has been using her right flipper well on and off the past couple of weeks. She is due an x-ray this week to see what is happening with her shoulder joint. She continues with acupuncture and laser therapy.

1 October 2019
Eve had an xray this week which showed that some of the bone lesion has improved. This is good news. She will continue on antibiotics for another 2 weeks and then we will xray again.  Her movement in the right flipper has improved this week, but there are still times when she doesn’t wish to use it.

7 October 2019
Eve has decided she only wants to eat squid this week, so we are accommodating her change in taste. Occasionally our turtles become fussy and refuse to eat certain food items. Otherwise she is doing well with her laser and acupuncture. She has started physiotherapy and massage again as well.   

14 October 2019
Eve has been using her bad front flipper extremely well this week and we are assessing her for release. She is swimming very strongly and we believe it is almost time for her to leave us. She has been with us for quite a long time so it is fantastic to see her doing this well.

21 October 2019
This week, Eve has again been using her right flipper well. And She is eating all types of seafood happily! Hopefully she will not be too far behind Thomas.

28 October 2019
Unfortunately Eve decided to use her flipper less this week. We know she can use it, but we are not sure why she stops using it from time to time. Her x-rays show the bone is stable and there is no current infection, but there is extensive damage to the joint. We are planning to get some medication to inject into the joint to hopefully make her more comfortable.

4 November 2019
Eve has been using her flipper off and on again this week. She will have an intra-articular injection of a steroid when we receive the medication. She has been eating well.

18 November 2019
Eve has been using her flipper well the past couple of days. We are still assessing her for an intra-articular steroid injection into her shoulder joint. She has been spending some time in the big tank in order to get some exercise.

25 November 2019
Eve and Orla have been living together in the large tank this week. They do not argue which is wonderful. Eve has been using her flipper well this week and is eating faster now she has competition. 

2 December 2019
Eve is back on her own in a medium tank. She has been eating well this week and is still using her front right flipper on and off. 

9 December 2019
Eve had some physio this week. There hasn’t been much change with the use of her flipper. She uses it on and off. Always the fussy eater, she has decided that squid tastes better this week.

16 December 2019
Eve has been moving around as we try to shuffle and make room for all our turtle patients. She is a bit of a grump and doesn’t get along with many – we were lucky when she liked Orla! She is currently in a tank on her own and enjoying her privacy.

23 December 2019
Eve has been well this week. She is eating all of her food again and is having a very lazy time – she doesn’t move unless she has to. She will be going on a diet in the new year!

30 December 2019
Eve has been well this week. She is on her diet and probably feels a little bit cheated, but has accepted it. And she has also been less fussy with her food this week – which means less wasted fish and cleaning for us.

13 January 2020
Eve is enjoying having her own space to practice her diving. She is getting physio for her flipper, and we’re very happy to see her using the flipper more and more. She loves her muscle massage, and fell asleep during one session this week.

20 January 2020
Eve was moved to the ORP Turtle Rehabilitation Centre at One & Only Reethi Rah on January 15 to free up space for critical patients at the Rescue Centre. She is sharing a tank with Azura, but we have to keep them separated. Eve will continue to receive physiotherapy daily to try to build up more muscle strength in her damaged flipper.

28 January 2020
Eve is showing more progress with her damaged front flipper (particularly when food is involved). Eve is a healthy weight of 6.4 kg and has been very active on the tank, which is lovely to see. We give her daily massage and physio therapy to aid with building up her muscle strength.

3 February 2020
Eve is being a little madam and has decided she only wants to eat prawns…spoilt much!? This can often happen with our patients as they go through phases of what they want to eat. She is still getting her daily physiotherapy and is showing progress with using her flipper more often.

10 February 2020
Eve (now known as Eva the Diva) is coming around to more seafood other than prawns. She is now happy to eat reef fish, although will still spit out any squid that we give her. She is still having physiotherapy. It is now noticeable, particularly when she dives for prawns, that she is using her less-efficient front flipper more. Although she still has a way to go, we are happy to see her slowly progressing.

24 February 2020
Eve has decided that she wants to eat fish again – along with her prawns. She is still refusing squid, but this is a common thing for Eve. She enjoys her massages and is showing progress with her front flipper.

2 March 2020
Eve is still enjoying her daily physiotherapy and seems to be using her flipper more and more everyday.

6 April 2020
Eve is still having her daily physio and is showing gradual improvements with her flipper movement. She is very friendly and likes to come over and say hello when anyone comes over to the tank. 

13 April 2020
Eve has been having her daily physio and is getting more confident using her flipper. This week she was also treated to a seafood iceblock, mainly filled with her favourite food – prawns!!

20 April 2020
Eve has been receiving her regular physiotherapy and even fell asleep with her last massage! She is seeming more confident with using her flipper, so we hope this progress will continue.

18 May 2020
Eve has been showered with her favourite foods, especially soft-shell crab, lately. As a result, she has been using her flipper a lot to dive down after the food. Her physiotherapy is continuing daily and showing slow results. We will hopefully start taking her for swims using a harness in the lagoon once the weather improves.

22 June 2020
Eve has shown massive improvements lately – she is using her damaged front flipper a lot more consistently. We are planning on taking her out for a lagoon swim to assess her flipper in the sea, however, due to rough sea conditions, we have not been able to do this yet. Eve is still enjoying being spoilt rotten with her regular lobster and prawn meals.

24 July 2020
Eve has made so much progress over the last few months; she has been using her damaged flipper frequently and has showed no sign of it hurting or hindering her anymore. In the last few weeks, she has also been enjoyed having the whole tank to herself after her neighbor Azura was moved back to the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre.

30 July 2020
Eve was finally released today. We took her out into deep water by boat and judging by the speed at which she took off, she was definitely ready! She didn’t hesitate or look back once. We will miss her, but we are so happy Eve is finally back where she belongs. Watch her release video below.