Sea Turtle With One Flipper

Mom's friend Carole told her about this story today. Carole volunteered at an aquarium in NJ and the sea turtle they had there came from the same place this turtle lives, Sea Turtle, Inc. in South Padre, Texas. I love a happy story and this one definitely made my day.

Allison is a 5-year-old green sea turtle who lost three flippers during a shark attack in 2005. She was giving little chance of surviving, but she recovered from her injuries and soon found a place in the hearts of her rescuers at Sea Turtle, Inc. Since arriving there, she has been swimming in circles because that's all she can do with her right front flipper. She could never be released into the wild with one flipper, but the people that work with her wanted to increase her quality of life in captivity. What could they do?

Tom Wilson, a 21-year old intern at Sea Turtle, Inc. came up with the idea of building a wet suit for Allison. He designed a black neoprene suit with a carbon-fiber dorsal fin on the back that would allow her to glide through the water like other turtles. The fin acts like a rudder, thus providing her with stability, and she can change direction by varying the strokes of her lone flipper. On Wednesday, researchers put the black neoprene suit on her and she swam like a regular turtle once more. She was finally set straight and is now an ambassador for her endangered species.

Here is a video of Allison in action. She is really a trooper and I hope I can visit her in Texas one day. Until that time comes, I will watch her video and be reminded that there is hope for sea turtles everywhere.