Lost flipper isn't slowing down Gilda the sea turtle
This story reminds me of the 3-legged hawksbill turtle I saw last month in Perhentian, Malaysia at the Tokong Laut divesite. Video of this 3-legged turtle feeding can be found at
Time stamp : 5:23.
Glad to see that see that Gilda is doing well.
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By Bill DiPaolo Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 9:29 p.m. Saturday, June 19, 2010
Posted: 8:42 p.m. Saturday, June 19, 2010
The 235-pound loggerhead, who lost her right front flipper to a boat propeller in October 2008, is swimming somewhere north of Cape Canaveral. Since her May 12 release near the Juno Pier, she has dived up to 180 feet to satisfy her diet of crabs and conch.
"We're happy she's diving so deep without her flipper. We were concerned that she might not be able to find food," said Tom Longo, communications manager at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Turtle experts know all this from the cigar-shaped tracking device attached to the rear of Gilda's shell. Her position, depth and water temperature are tracked as the pop-up archival transmitting device sends signals to a satellite in medium Earth orbit when Gilda surfaces. The information is electronically forwarded to researchers and updated weekly on the Marinelife website.
Some days, Gilda is in a hurry. On May 13, she swam about 30 miles between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Other days she puts up her flippers, lounging in the same general location in the Atlantic Ocean.
"Maybe she slowed down because she found a food source. Maybe it was the current. Where, how deep and how fast is what we are hoping to learn," said Nanette Lawrenson, president of Loggerhead, where veterinarians amputated Gilda's flipper.
Multiple surgeries and blood transfusions followed. Gilda was trained to swim to the right and the left despite her injury, Lawrenson said.
"We didn't want her swimming in circles. The fact she's swimming in both directions shows our training worked," she said.
Gilda's swimming should not be hampered by the tracking device, which costs about $3,500. A pin is programmed to corrode after 300 days and release the device, which will float to the surface. Hopefully, it will wash ashore or be found by boaters and returned to researchers. The tracker has a tension device programmed to release if Gilda gets tangled in a net or other debris.
The device automatically lets go if Gilda dives deeper than 5,900 feet - a few hundred feet deeper than the Deepwater Horizon well that is spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico .
"If Gilda goes that deep, she's likely dead," Lawrenson said.
Gilda, who is nesting age, could return this summer to Juno Beach to lay eggs. But she's got to hurry. Prime nesting season for loggerheads has started and runs through August.
"If she meets a mate right away, it could happen," Longo said.
To follow Gilda, go to marinelife.org.
"And God created great sea-animals, and every living soul that creeps with which the waters swarmed after their kind..." (MKJV) Gen 1:21
Lost flipper isn't slowing down Gilda the sea turtle
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