Meet Moby, Victim of a Spear Gun
Moby, a young green turtle, was found by divers from Diveoceanus Holiday Island Resort & Spa in Ari Atoll. She was swimming in the ocean with a rope attached to a metal object in her shell.
Intake Date: 30th July 2018
Length: 70 cm
Weight: 32.3 kg
Status: Deceased 8th August 2018
It appears that Moby was hit by a spear gun which pierced her shell, lung and caused damage to several other organs. When she arrived at the Rescue Centre after a long journey on two seaplanes, we surgically removed the spear head and stitched up the internal damage. We were not able to repair her damaged lung, and we hoped it would heal with time.
We cleaned her shell wound and applied a dressing. To allow the wound to heal and avoid infection, we had to temporarily keep her in a dry area.
Unfortunately, Moby passed away 5 days after arriving at the Rescue Centre. A postmortem revealed severe and widespread infection throughout her body from the spear wound. The wound was old by the time she reached us and unfortunately treatment started too late.
It was a sad day at the rescue centre for us and for our guests.
