Meet Lucky, Another Ghost Net Victim
Lucky is a fully grown female Olive Ridley turtle who was rescued by Pro Divers Maldives at Kuredu Island in Lhaviyani Atoll. She came to us after a stopover for wound treatments and fluids at Atoll Marine Centre.
Intake Date: 12th June 2019
Length: 65cm
Weight: 25kg
Status: Released 16th September 2019
Lucky has been adopted by Mildred Dauphin, Ecologically Speaking, and by Marie Weinert
Lucky has bad wounds to her front flippers and shell, and she has self-amputated her back right flipper. Her front left flipper is also badly cut. When she was found, she was also badly dehydrated.
We amputated what was left of her back flipper and are trying to save her front flipper.
Lucky has improved a lot over the last week. Although her wounds look awful and are quite deep, she is healing very quickly. She has regular wound treatments and laser therapy. Her appetite is very good and she is diving well for food, however she is not yet sleeping on the bottom of the tank.
After about a month at the Rescue Centre, Lucky started to use her front left flipper – which is great news. The wound over the joint slowly healed and closed over, before finally closing over completely after about 6 weeks of treatment. Her carapace wounds now also look great.
She was moved to the big tank to aid in her diving, and she is loving the extra space. She dived more often and for longer periods of time and loved swimming after her pieces of fish.
Lucky had x-rays to check for osteomyelitis and there are a few locations where the bone is infected. These bone infections can take a long time to heal, so she will be continuing her antibiotic treatments.
27 July 2019
This week we moved her to a medium sized tank to give other turtles some exercise in the large tank. Although she misses the big space, she has adapted well to her new smaller environment and continues to eat well.
3 August 2019
Lucky is back in the large tank and she is much happier. She loves her space. She has started physiotherapy on her front left flipper to improve the range of motion in her elbow. She does not like being handled so sessions are very short.
10 August 2019
Lucky has been moved to a medium tank which she is now used to. She is eating well but does miss the large tank. Her stitches were also removed this week and her surgery site has healed well.
17 August 2019
Lucky is swimming very strongly. She is using her left flipper more and she will have an x-ray next week to check on the status of her osteomyelitis.
26 August 2019
Lucky is using her left flipper well. She had x-rays this week and her bone infection is resolving in some areas, but her left elbow joint has developed an infection. Her antibiotic has been altered and we will x-ray again in three weeks to see if we have the infection under control.
2 September 2019
Lucky is using her left flipper more confidently. She is looking forward to getting back into the big tank where she has more space to swim. Her antibiotics will continue until her next x-ray and we will reassess her plan then.
11 September 2019
Lucky has been enjoying some time and the space in the big tank. She is using her left flipper so well now. She had an x-ray last week and there is still an area of bone that is suspect, so we will take a follow up x-ray next week to look for any changes. She will continue antibiotics at this stage.
16th September 2019
Lucky was given the all clear and released today – she was off like a shot so obviously ready to go back home!
