Harry

adult female Olive Ridley turtle, admitted 4 February 2025, Voavah, Baa Atoll, Maldives

Harry is an adult female olive ridley turtle discovered on 4 February, entangled in a large ghost net on Voavah. She presented partial amputations to both front left and back right flippers, both of which were swollen and partially necrotic. We immediately began treatment with antibiotics to address the infection present.

Harry was only slightly buoyant on the day of admission; she started to dive within 48 hours, and to eat within 72hrs (showing a preference for crab). Both undamaged flippers were fully functional, whereas the damaged rear flipper showed limited movement, and the front left flipper showed zero movement. Following discussion between our veterinary experts, Harry was transferred to Kuda Huraa on 15 February for continued treatments.

On arrival at Kuda Huraa, Harry is showing little interest in food, so we are administering Metoclopramide to stimulate appetite. She is active, able to dive, and rests on the bottom of the tank for short periods. We are continuing her daily treatments, including surgical debridement, wound management, fluid therapy & pain relief, and photobiomodulation therapy (green/blue light for antimicrobial treatment, red/infrared for healing).

Updates March 2025

Harry has made excellent progress. She can now dive and has been seen resting at the tank bottom. Her appetite is good, wounds are healing, and there’s no exposed bone on either flipper.

April

Harry has continued improving this month. She regularly rests in the cave at the bottom of the tank, only surfacing to breathe. Her appetite is strong and the wounds are recovering nicely; the back left flipper is almost fully healed and in active use. If progress continues, she may soon be fit to return to the ocean.

May

Harry has continued to improve. She is regularly resting in the cave at the bottom of the tank, only going back to the surface to breathe. Her appetite is strong and wounds are recovering nicely. The back right flipper is now fully healed and she is using it a lot. The front left flipper is almost fully healed, and the tissue looks healthy. If these improvements continue, it is only going to be a few weeks before she will be eligible for release.

8 June 2025 = Release Day !

Harry has made remarkable progress and was declared fit to return to the ocean. Before her release, we fitted a Wildlife Computers satellite tag to her carapace. Telemetry research is an invaluable tool for monitoring the survival of rehabilitated sea turtles and gaining insights into their migration patterns, particularly for oceanic species like the Olive Ridley, which are notoriously challenging to study. The more we learn about their movements, habitats, and distribution, the more effective and impactful our conservation efforts can be.

We can see from the satellite data that Harry swam South, following the coastline and shallow warm waters of the Maldives, before heading into the open ocean. She has traveled more than 1,300 kilometers in the blue, and is currently located South of the Sri Lankan coast. We know from our previous released patients that both Indian and Sri Lankan waters are home to populations of Olive Ridley sea turtles, and we hope that Harry will continue her journey safely!

Live Satellite Map – Harry’s Journey

September

Harry is still making her way in the big blue, and we are continuing to monitor her progress via satellite tag. She swam into the Bay of Bengal, but has since turned around back toward Sri Lanka. Her tag is still attached and sending location data, which is a great sign!

Harry has now travelled more than 3600 kilometers since we released her in Kuda Huraa’s waters, and she does not seem to be slowing down. We are hoping that the satellite tag will keep on transmitting through the month of October as well.

October

We have continued to receive Harry’s location updates! She seems to have found a spot she likes, and has spent the whole month making short movements in that area. We believe she has reached a favourite feeding ground and is gathering strength to complete her recovery. This way, she’ll be ready to face another season in the wonderful waters of the Indian Ocean. We hope she’ll eventually return to her reproductive cycle and reach her natal beach so she can produce offspring and contribute to her species.

November

Another month has passed, and we’re still getting news about Harry! It’s incredible that we’ve been able to obtain this valuable information for such a long period of time. During November, Harry left her feeding ground to start a long journey that has once again taken her close to the shores of Sri Lanka. She has travelled more than 600km this month!

December

To end the year, we have once again continued to receive news about Harry! She’s been quite calm this month, unlike in November. She’s been staying in the Sri Lanka area all month, most likely because she found another good feeding-ground and is spending the festivities there! It’s now been over six months that we’ve been monitoring Harry, so we wish her a happy new year and hope to continue following her route in 2026!

January 2026

Harry has decided to leave us behind, as she stopped sending signals at the start of the New Year. Her tracker was active for an amazing 208 days, and was logging her journey for over 6500 kilometres! She has smashed the record of distance travelled per day, even doubling the length navigated in the same amount of time by other turtles registered by Reefscapers. This is highly valuable information which will be used in future research.
So long Harry … we wish you a healthy and happy life.