Athena

Olive Ridley turtle, admitted February 2026, N.Male’ Atoll, Maldives

Athena is an olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) that arrived at our rehabilitation centre in mid-February. Like many of our recent admissions, she was found in North Malé Atoll entangled in a ghost fishing net, which caused severe injuries, particularly to the right hind flipper.
Due to the advanced necrosis and the presence of multiple fractures, amputation of the right hind limb was required. In addition, Athena presented relatively extensive lesions on the right front flipper and on the carapace.

Athena’s main challenge has been an apparent coagulation disorder, which has significantly complicated wound management. During the amputation procedure and subsequent wound care, persistent bleeding occurred. Although not acutely severe, the prolonged blood loss resulted in a significant drop in haematocrit (the proportion of blood cells relative to total blood volume), eventually reaching critical levels. Athena has therefore been treated with systemic antibiotics and administered synthetic erythropoietin to stimulate blood cells regeneration and help restore her haematocrit to stable levels. Wound care is currently suspended in order to prevent further blood loss.

Encouragingly, Athena remains highly active and is feeding very well, however, given the severity of the anaemia, her prognosis remains reserved at this stage.

March Updates

Athena has made remarkable progress over the course of this month. Following the suspension of all treatments due to significant coagulation disorders—which resulted in severe anaemia (PCV 5%)—we have been able to resume wound management after confirming through blood analysis that platelet counts have returned to normal levels, allowing for adequate clotting during minor bleeding associated with these procedures. Additionally, her haematocrit is improving steadily and is currently close to 10%, with strong evidence of active erythropoietic regeneration. This, combined with her excellent appetite, has supported substantial wound healing, with many lesions now fully resolved.

April

Athena showed notable improvement throughout the month of April. The majority of her wounds are now nearly fully healed, allowing us to shift our focus toward management of her buoyancy syndrome. We have been using environmental enrichment to encourage diving behaviour and stimulate food retrieval from the bottom of the tank. Progress has been steady, and she is now capable of recovering food independently from the tank floor. Both her appetite and character have remained consistently excellent, and we are therefore very pleased with her ongoing progress.

May

Athena has made remarkable progress throughout this month. All of her wounds have now fully healed, her hematocrit continues to improve, and other relevant blood parameters are also showing positive trends. In addition, both her appetite and activity levels remain excellent. Most importantly, we have started to observe Athena resting on the bottom of the tank, which represents a major milestone in her recovery and a significant improvement in her diving ability. For the coming month, we hope to move her to a larger tank, allowing her to further develop her swimming abilities and continue progressing. The moment of her return to the ocean is getting closer!

June

We are very pleased to announce that Athena has entered the final stage of her rehabilitation. Since being transferred to our main rehabilitation tank, she has made remarkable progress. While maintaining her voracious appetite, she has regained buoyancy control and is now able to remain on the bottom of the tank without assistance. During June, we also introduced live prey as environmental enrichment to encourage her natural hunting behaviour while providing a more varied diet.
With all of her wounds fully healed, normal blood parameters, and an excellent overall clinical condition, we are planning to release Athena back to the ocean during the first week of July.

July … Release Day !

After almost five months of rehabilitation, Athena has successfully returned to the ocean!

Her recovery was anything but straightforward, with various ups and downs, however, her final health assessments showed excellent overall condition, and her remarkable improvement in swimming and diving abilities meant that she was finally ready to return to where she belongs.

Our sassiest patient certainly made sure to leave her mark during her time with us. With an impressive record of three bites to her name (!) Athena officially earns the title of our most feisty turtle of the year! But beyond her fighting spirit, she truly earned this title through her incredible recovery. Athena overcame a severe coagulopathy that prevented her blood from clotting properly and placed her life at serious risk, eventually recovering from a critically low PCV of just 5% to an impressive 20%.

Her release was quick and successful. Fueled by her characteristic determination, Athena wasted no time and immediately headed straight for deeper water as soon as she was released. She left us with one final, beautiful memory, and our team could not have been happier to watch her disappear beneath the waves.