A green sea turtle in Connecticut has been given another chance at life thanks to a custom 3D-printed prosthetic harness.
The harness was made to help the male turtle named Charlotte, who resides at Mystic Aquarium, deal with positive buoyancy syndrome, known as “bubble butt syndrome.”
According to The Turtle Hospital, a nonprofit organization, the condition is a deformity to a turtle’s shell that causes it to permanently float to the surface.
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courtesy Mystic Aquarium
Dr. Molly Martony, senior veterinarian at Mystic Aquarium, tells PEOPLE that Charlotte developed bubble butt syndrome when he was struck by a boat in the wild, damaging his shell and spinal cord.
“This spinal cord damage causes abnormal intestinal motility, causing gas from bacteria to build up in the intestines, creating positive buoyancy in the turtle. Consequently the turtles rear end is lifted towards the surface of the water leading to him float with a head down and tail up posture,” says Martony.
To help improve Charlotte’s swimming habits, the aquarium teamed up with 3D printing solutions company Adia to help create a new harness for his shell, which New Balance Athletics partially designed, reports WTNH.
courtesy Mystic Aquarium
“Charlotte’s shell was first scanned and then a custom 3D printed harness was created specially for him to allow it to fit perfectly to his shell and add weights can be added to normalize his buoyancy and improve his swimming,” says Martony.
The veterinarian tells PEOPLE that since being equipped with the device, Charlotte “is doing excellent” and is “very comfortable in the harness and is thriving.”
“Charlotte’s permanent spinal injury and ‘bubble butt syndrome’ makes him unable to forage in the wild so Mystic Aquarium is his forever home where he serves as an ambassador to his species, educating visitors on challenges wild sea turtles face and inspiring conservation of the endangered species,” says Martony.
courtesy Mystic Aquarium
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that “hundreds to thousands” of sea turtles are struck by vessels in the United States every year, leading to many deaths.
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The organization lists vessel strikes as one of the major threats to green sea turtles, along with ocean pollution, loss and degradation of nesting habitat, and climate change.
