Valentino 

juvenile Olive Ridley turtle (RB.LO.100), admitted 12-Feb-17

Valentino was found floating on the ocean surface, unable to dive. During the first 4 days at our Centre, we have been actively syringing over 2000cc of trapped air out of the body cavity, to help with buoyancy (floating) syndrome.
Valentino has proven to be a very calm and relaxed patient, which has made our job easy and enjoyable. Since her arrival she has been interested in food and making consistent efforts to dive under the water.
Within one week of arriving, she was able to swim from end to end of her pool under the surface, not having to strain as hard to keep herself from popping up to the surface.

On 22 February, Valentino made her first dive to the bottom of the pool and is no longer needing to be hand fed. Her motivation for food has made her dive more and more each day, and she is now able to rest on the bottom of the pool. We are very encouraged by this rapid recovery and we hope she will be able to be released in a few weeks once she has maintained this diving ability and a healthy weight.

7 March 2017
Current Length:49.1cm; current weight: 15.7kg
Valentino turned out to be one of the easiest patients to care for, responding well to medical treatments and taking interest in food from day one. Her  insatiable appetite made it very easy for us to remedy her emaciated state, and during the 25 days at our Centre she gained 2.8kg in weight!
This feisty and independent juvenile turtle was released along side her friend BCD. Both showed no hesitation once released back into the sea, and they immediately swam away to explore the reef below. Bon voyage!