{"id":3196,"date":"2014-05-02T00:27:30","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T07:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=3196"},"modified":"2014-07-09T12:48:13","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T19:48:13","slug":"jewish-sea-turtle-swims-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/05\/02\/jewish-sea-turtle-swims-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish sea turtle swims again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hofesh can swim now, thanks to a\u00a0flipper made of polypropylene that is durable but flexible. (photo by Baz Ratner from Yanic Levy)<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When a young green sea turtle with both his left limbs nearly severed washed up on Israel\u2019s Mediterranean shore four years ago, the first thing on the rescuers\u2019 minds was how they could save his life. The rescuers amputated both of the turtle\u2019s limbs, which left him unable to swim or even keep his head above water \u2013 he was able only to stay on dry land or navigate in shallow ponds. Things changed when Shlomi Gez, a student from Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, happened upon the turtle rescue centre\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Gez had been looking for a final project to complete his studies. \u201cAs soon as I saw the place, I was inspired, and I knew I could help solve their most acute problem, which was Hofesh,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The biggest hurdle for Hofesh \u2013 that\u2019s the name given to the rescued sea turtle \u2013 was the loss of balance. Losing both limbs on the same side interfered with the stability needed for swimming. \u201cA flipper enables fish to retain their balance, so I decided to adapt the idea to a sea turtle,\u201d Gez told the Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Gez\u2019s designed a specialty flipper made of polypropylene that is durable but flexible. He attached it to Hofesh\u2019s back with a harness \u2013 and it worked. As Gez fine-tuned the prototype, the permanent flipper was recently glued to Hofesh\u2019s shell with a special glue designed to grow with the shell as the turtle grows.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, we could only put him in a shallow-water pool because he would have drowned but, now that he has his artificial flipper, he swims completely normally,\u201d said Yaniv Levy, director of the rescue centre.<\/p>\n

The centre has rescued more than 500 sea turtles \u2013 green turtles, a highly endangered species, and loggerheads \u2013 since it was founded 15 years ago, and successfully returned about 70 percent of them to the sea.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Hofesh cannot be set free \u2013 if his flipper ever came loose, he would drown. But as a member of a globally endangered species, Hofesh has been selected for a breeding program. \u201cWe hope his offspring will be returned to the sea,\u201d said Levy.<\/p>\n

Although Hofesh\u2019s disability is visible, this does not bother his new mate, a blind green sea turtle, named Tsurit. They swim together in their shared tank at the centre. \u201cHe nibbles her neck and likes to frolic with her,\u201d said Levy, noting green sea turtles have about the same average life span as humans, but reach sexual maturity only around the age of 30.<\/p>\n

\n

In 1930, the green turtle population was at around 30,000. At the time, they were called, \u201cthe Edible Sea Turtle,\u201d hunted nearly to extinction. Today, there are fewer than 30 wild green turtles in the area.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In 1930, the green turtle population was at around 30,000. At the time, they were called, \u201cthe Edible Sea Turtle,\u201d hunted nearly to extinction. Today, there are fewer than 30 wild green turtles in the area.<\/p>\n

The centre runs a breeding program, which currently includes 26 green sea turtles. Its hospital treats the green turtles and the more common, but also endangered, loggerhead species, with some 15 patients in care. Like Tsurit and Hofesh, most have been injured by boats and fishing nets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that Hofesh will never be free,\u201d said Levy, \u201cbut he has a good life here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hope, of course, is that Tsurit and Hofesh\u2019s union will increase the population of rare green sea turtles in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Sea turtles lay 300-500 eggs per breeding season. During a female\u2019s lifetime, she can lay around 6,000 eggs.<\/p>\n

The survival rate of young sea turtles is estimated as only one in every 100 hatchlings reaching sexual maturity. In the Mediterranean alone, about 1,000 turtles are injured annually.<\/p>\n

The Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Centre is part of the world network focused on treating injured turtles. Its aim is to create a better future for the turtles\u2019 near-extinct populations, to raise public awareness for better life, to achieve a society that better cares for its oceans and seas and to help reestablish an environmental balance. The new dedicated rescue centre inside the existing Alexander River National Park, where the river forms an estuary flowing into the Mediterranean, will be isolated from noise and populated areas.<\/p>\n

Another Israeli turtle story involves a groundbreaking medical device used to treat terror victims helping save the life of a Caspian turtle at the Israeli Wildlife Hospital, Ramat Gan Safari. This turtle posed a challenge for veterinarians, as its shell had too big a crack to fix the standard way (with bolts and wire). The veterinarians turned to the head of the plastic surgery unit at Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera, Dr. Morris Topaz, an Israeli doctor who treats terror victims.<\/p>\n

Topaz originally created the device to help people who lost areas of skin too far separated to sew together yet too close together to do a skin implant. It brings the two edges of existing skin closer to each other, eliminating the need for skin implants. With the special device, they glued the unique plastic device on both sides of the turtle\u2019s fracture and connected them with a special plastic string that looks a lot like a zip tie.<\/p>\n

Seeing his device in action on a turtle, Topaz decided to donate the idea and device to the Israeli Wildlife Hospital for future cases.<\/p>\n

More than 2,200 injured wild animals are brought to the Israeli Wildlife Hospital annually. About 60 percent of the animals are treated, rehabilitated and returned to the wild.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa <\/strong>is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hofesh can swim now, thanks to a\u00a0flipper made of polypropylene that is durable but flexible. (photo by Baz Ratner from Yanic Levy) When a young green sea turtle with both his left limbs nearly severed washed up on Israel\u2019s Mediterranean shore four years ago, the first thing on the rescuers\u2019 minds was how they could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[900,901,903,904,902],"class_list":["post-3196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-alexander-river-national-park","tag-israeli-wildlife-hospital","tag-morris-topaz","tag-ramat-gan-safari","tag-yaniv-levy"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}