12/26/2025
A Christmas success story!
Remember Antoine the Loggerhead Sea Turtle rescued on October 25 with severe buoyancy issues and completely coated in thick green algae?
Following Antoine's CT scan generously performed by Sea Turtle, Inc, we were able to know that this turtle had a pneumocoelom (a dangerous condition where free air enters the body cavity). This is often the result of a tear in the lung and can happen for a variety of reasons such as blunt force trauma from boat strikes. We were able to reach out to The Turtle Hospital who has successfully repaired these tears before with a technique called autologous blood pleurodesis. With their advice, we were able to take Antoine's own blood and inject it into his coelomic cavity over the lung tear which causes the tear to heal. Shortly after this procedure, Antoine's positive buoyancy issues resolved and he is now diving, swimming, and feeding like a healthy Loggerhead Sea Turtle! After a little more time for observation, hopefully Antoine will be returning to the ocean soon!
