00:00When she was rescued, veterinarians noticed she had an old boat strike wound, and she
00:08was seen going around in circles.
00:11Now they discover another injury that was probably caused by that boat strike.
00:16What we noticed was that it had limited use of its rear flippers.
00:20The flipper that was beneath where the old boat strike wound was, it was not operating
00:25normally.
00:30Leatherbacks dive the ocean's depths in search of jellyfish, and this injury likely hindered
00:36this animal's mobility.
00:39On a leatherback turtle, the front flippers propel the animal, but the hind flippers can
00:43actually help break and steer.
00:44If the hind flippers are not functioning well, that's going to prevent that animal from being
00:49able to eat.
00:51Veterinarians also reveal she's suffering from a very low blood glucose level.
00:56Glucose is sugar.
00:57It's what cells need to survive and function.
01:00And if an animal is low in glucose, your body can't function normally.
01:04You become disoriented, and it puts you in a very delirious state.
01:08The vets administer dextrose, a form of sugar to take care of her blood sugar levels.
01:14And they give her antibiotics to ward off an infection.
01:18It had quite a bit of inflammation.
01:20We approach that by giving two different medications.
01:23One medication is an antibiotic.
01:25It also treats intestinal parasites.
01:27The other medication that we use helps with nausea and helps promote the intestines to
01:32move properly.
01:34And to treat that injured flipper, they turn to a fairly new gadget in their toolbox, a
01:40laser.
01:43By placing the laser over the turtle's skin, vets hope to increase the blood flow to the
01:48injured limb, speeding up the healing process.
01:54And it seems to help.
01:55We see the improvement in general activity, general awareness of the animal.
02:05They've been racing against the clock, and just four days after her rescue, officials
02:09agree she's ready to go home.
02:13They put her in a big container on a research vessel owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
02:19Administration, or NOAA.
02:24The NOAA researchers take her 20 miles out to sea, where they've been tracking leatherbacks
02:29that are feeding on jellies.
02:34They lower her into the water.
02:45She takes off, diving gracefully back into her home.
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