Meet Lynn, An Adult Female Olive Ridley Floater
Lynn was found floating at Hurawalhi in Lhaviyani Atoll. She came to us via Atoll Marine Centre.
Intake Date: 27th February 2019
Length: 66.5 cm
Weight: 26.4 kg
Status: Released 29th June 2019
Lynn has been adopted by Nigel & Louise Walmsley
Lynn was very buoyant and hadn’t been eating, so she was sent to us for investigation. We X-rayed her and found lot of internal abnormalities. She had a huge amount of gas build up, including in her neck. She also had what appeared to be large abnormal distended pockets in her lung called bullae.
We placed a stomach tube surgically, started a barium study, and also re-X-rayed her after we had removed the air from her shell under anaesthetic. We then ultrasound scanned her and were surprised to see lots of very large egg follicles inside her! This means that she is re-productively active; she was likely on her way to a breeding beach before she got injured.
Lynn finally started eating and also diving again. We removed more air from her shell, which helped her dive. She kept popping back up when she stopped swimming, but she was able to dive to the bottom of the tank to get food.
Lynn became very active and spent her days swimming around her tank and trying to dive. She also put on lots of weight and, overall, became a much stronger turtle than when she first came in.
Finally, on June 29th she was ready for release, after just over 4 months at the Rescue Centre.
