Endangered Sea Turtle Is Swimming Again After Researchers Create Prosthetic Flipper

Researchers in Bangkok have helped an injured sea turtle swim again with an innovative artificial flipper. It was built considering the animal’s injury, weight and swimming style. The prosthesis offers hope to other turtles trapped and maimed by fishing nets. A Thai endangered sea turtle which lost its flipper after getting tangled in a fishing net is swimming with ease again after receiving a prosthetic limb.

"She's swimming much better and she's learning to use the two flippers to turn. You can see the difference," said Nantarika Chansue, a veterinarian who took part in the development of Goody's prosthetic flipper. Over the past year, Thai environment authorities and researchers at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok have been working to develop prostheses for injured sea turtles, following similar projects in Japan and the United States.