Thari#2
Olive Ridley turtle admitted 28 January 2024, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives
Thari was found with her front left flipper entangled in a ghost net near Alimatha (Vaavu Atoll) so she was transferred to our Kuda Huraa turtle rescue centre by seaplane.
On arrival, she required an emergency amputation. She has buoyancy alterations but is still trying to dive, is active, and showing an increasing interest in food.
February Updates
Thari has shown quite the appetite, especially when it comes to calamari. Her buoyancy did not improve, so we have started external target weight therapy. A few days after the dive weights were attached, her food started being offered using a buoy just below the surface, encouraging her to dive. She is still getting used to this new feeding method. Enrichment tools are also being used to stimulate her to swim more in the tank.
March
The external target weight therapy has helped Thari with her buoyancy disorder. She has been seen a few times sleeping almost completely submerged, with the exception of her head. Thari has been more active in the tank with daily diving exercises, and her wound is healing well.
April
Thari’s wounds have completely healed, but unfortunately her buoyancy is still altered (central positive) even with external target weight therapy. New weights and dive training will be put into practice for the month of May, alongside coelomocentesis. Different enrichment tools have been introduced to stimulate swimming and diving. The turtle has a good appetite, especially when it comes to shrimp and calamari.
May
Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved since arrival; her shell is 40% out of the water, central-positive. Our external target weight therapies continue, with a new set of weights this month. Coelomocentesis (puncture of free gas in the body cavity) was executed once a week., with rore than 13L of air retrieved from the cavity. This suggests that the tears in the lungs’ parenchyma haven’t healed, enabling the airflow. Different enrichment tools have been introduced to stimulate swimming and diving.
June
Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved, even with external target weight therapy and daily dive training sessions. Rehabilitation efforts will continue in the upcoming month.
July
Despite continued weight-therapy and dive training, Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved during July.
August – September
Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved, even with external target weight therapy and daily dive training sessions. Rehabilitation efforts will continue in the coming weeks.
October 2024 Updates
Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved this month. She can dive for food during dive-training, but without the external weight therapy she is still 70% outside of the water (central positive).
November
Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved. She can dive for food during dive training with external weights, but without them she is still 70% outside above the water (central positive). This month, we performed two centesis sessions to retrieve air from the celomatic cavity, releasing a total of 2.3L of trapped air.
December
Thari’s buoyancy hasn’t improved this month. She can dive for food during the dive-training, but without the external target weight therapy, she is still 70% outside of the water (central positive).
January 2025 Updates
Thari’s buoyancy has not improved this month. She can dive for food during dive training, but without the external target weight therapy, she is still 70% outside of the water (central positive).
February
Thari’s health status remains steady and unchanged.
March
On 15 March, Thari was transferred from Kuda Huraa to Landaa to use the ocean enclosure, which she entered upon arrival. Thari is eating and moving well. Her buoyancy has improved from 30% to ~15% without weights, and she has started diving after food. Full control of buoyancy is not yet achieved, but we hope she can be released in the coming weeks.
April
Thari has improved dramatically since her return to the sea pen. She is now able to dive the full depth of the enclosure and retrieves food with ease. She has not yet been observed resting on the bottom and appears to spend most time at the surface, although she has been seen swimming well at depth. We are awaiting delivery of satellite tags (due in May) before release.
May Updates
Thari is in a very good condition. She is able to dive and was prepared to be released, but when we brought her back to the Rehabilitation Centre and cleaned all the algae off the carapace, we saw some wounds on the top of the carapace where the bone can be seen. It started to heal when she was on the sea pen, but it needs more treatment and wound cleaning, so we have decided not to release her until the wounds are totally healed and she is in the best possible condition.
June
Thari’s wounds are healing well. She no longer rests on the tank floor, but she tries to dive regularly. When the wounds are healed, we will bring her back to the sea pen to encourage her to dive so she will be ready to be released.
July
Thari’s wounds are almost healed, and she keeps trying to dive. We will move her to the sea pen when the wounds are totally healed to encourage her diving to be released as soon as possible.
August Updates
Thari continues her efforts to dive for food at the bottom of the tank, sometimes successfully. We are still waiting for the sea pen to be fixed so she can be moved there for further diving practice before her release.
September
Thari’s wounds are almost healed. We are still waiting for materials to fix the sea pen to move her there, so she can start diving again and be released as soon as possible.
October
Thari’s wounds have fully healed, and the sea pen has been repaired. Due to unfavourable weather conditions, her relocation has been delayed; we will transfer her to the sea pen as soon as conditions allow.
Although Thari is not yet able to dive properly, she remains very enthusiastic and continues to make consistent efforts to do so.
23 November … Release Day !
On 9 November, Thari was moved to the sea pen, where she was observed diving just 5 days later, indicating she was fit for release. A satellite tag was attached to her carapace, and she was successfully released on 23 November! We are following the signals closely and after swimming around the Atoll for a few days, she has now left Maldivian waters.
Despite losing one of her flippers, Thari recovered well enough to survive in the wild and she is the latest to join our satellite tagging programme. Keep checking-in for regular updates on her progress across the oceans!
Follow Thari’s journey on our interactive map (below) and also on our satellite tracking page.
Tagging research activities performed under permit from the Government of Maldives Environmental Regulatory Authority
