Sea Turtle Missing a Flipper Recovering Well at South Carolina Aquarium

A scrappy sea turtle missing a front flipper has undergone an incredible recovery at the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, after it was accidentally caught by a fisherman at Myrtle Beach in October 2023.

Footage released by the aquarium shows Ricotta the sea turtle from her admittance in October 2023 to March 2024.

Ricotta was accidentally caught by a fisherman at the Myrtle Beach State Park Fishing Pier, the aquarium said, clarifying that the angler’s gear “caught onto monofilament that had previously entangled this turtle and had likely been there for quite some time, which led to the loss of this turtle’s right front flipper.”

The distressed creature was taken in by the aquarium, who said that it also had damage to its front left flipper and beak.

A long period of recovery commenced before Ricotta was put on exhibit on March 15.

Ricotta will continue to recover at the South Carolina Aquarium, getting used to life with only one front flipper and improving lung volume in a larger tank, the facility said.

The aquarium’s Sea Turtle Care Center “aids sick and injured sea turtles in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources … in hopes that they will become reproductive members of the sea turtle population” upon their release, according to its website. Credit: South Carolina Aquarium via Storyful

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