Meet "Eve" 🐢

Here she is! ‘Our’ (adopted) cute and youthful Olive Ridley sea turtle, ‘EVE’. Eve was found tangled in a fishing net at Como Resort (the Maldives). Her story and the foundation dedicated to rescuing and treating sea turtles resonated so much with us that we decided to adopt her! In this first blog, we'll take you through her story, and afterward, we'll keep you updated on her progress and recovery in ‘Eve’s Blog’.

Adoption Report

Admission Date: December 26, 2018

Length: 32.5 cm

Weight: 3.5 kg

Status: Current Patient

Eve's Story

Eve had already lost her rear flipper when they found her, and a front flipper was severely damaged by the fishing net she was entangled in. She was found with two broken bones and deep cuts. An attempt was made to save her flipper, and she underwent surgery to place a splint. Initially, it seemed to be healing.

Eve has recovered from her surgery and is doing well. She dives but has lost her buoyancy. She is very active and eats well. They closely monitored her surgical wound, changed her dressing every 2 days, and gave her antibiotics to prevent infection.

When Eve’s dressing was first removed, she used her flipper a little. However, after a few days, she stopped using it and just held it close to her body. They repeated the X-ray, which showed that her bones were healing and looked much better than previous X-rays. Despite this, she did not use the flipper.

A second corrective surgery was performed in hopes of giving her more function in this flipper. She successfully recovered from the second surgery, but she developed a condition called osteomyelitis or bone inflammation in her shoulder joint. This is unfortunately a common complication due to entanglement in fishing nets. As soon as the bone infection was detected on an X-ray, treatment began. The infection can spread throughout the body, destroy the shoulder blade, and eventually penetrate the spine, leading to paralysis and death.

Eve has been closely monitored, and they are very happy with her progress after a month of treatment. Her shoulder joint looks much better, and the bone is regenerating. She has started moving her flipper for the first time, and they are helping her further by treating her with physical therapy. She will continue to take antibiotics for now.

There was fungal growth, so she may have a mixed fungal and bacterial infection in her joint – which has proven difficult to treat.

The care and treatment for Eve's recovery naturally require time and money, which is why we chose to adopt Eve. Due to environmental pollution and especially the plastic problem, many marine animals are in distress. We greatly appreciate the Olive Ridley Project and all they do to rescue and treat sea turtles for these consequences.
You will regularly see Eve the turtle on our social media, and we are happy that we can do this and that she will become part of the Shampoo Bars Family.

Curious about how Eve is doing? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay updated!