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His name is Yellow, he is 30 years old and weighs 115 kilos. He is a green turtle, a resident of Benalmádena's Sea Life aquarium and he recently had to undergo a CAT scan for a health check. It sounds simple, but it is not. The aquarium had to instigate a major operation to transfer it to the veterinary clinic where such a test could be carried out without the sea creature suffering any kind of mishap.
According to Sea Life, a specific protocol was designed for the sea turtle's transfer and specialised personnel were deployed. The team was made up of 12 people including veterinarians, aquatic biologists and support staff, who "were in charge of ensuring the turtle's safety and that the test was carried out with absolute normality."
All this has been necessary because, after a routine blood test on Yellow, the vets detected an increase in uric acid indicators, so the vets decided that a CAT scan was necessary to find out whether or not this increase was due to Yellow suffering some ailment.
"With the test we have tried to get as exhaustive a diagnosis as possible about the state of his kidneys and thus guarantee the health of one of the most prized animals at this Costa del Sol aquarium," said a Sea Life spokesperson.
In the years that the turtle has been in this aquarium, its growth and adaptation to life there has been remarkable. The male arrived weighing in at only 26 kilos and he now weighs 115. He is periodically monitored within Sea Life's own main tank where, using different techniques, Yellow is encouraged to approach the lifting platform himself. Once there, the team approaches him to carry out an exhaustive check-up on his general condition, checking each of his flippers, beak and shell as well as taking all body measurements.
The Sea Life spokesperson was keen to mention that the aquarium has also funded a pioneering project to prevent the by-catch of marine turtles. This involves using LED lights attached to fishing nets to reduce the number of turtles being caught and drowned in such nets. "The first results suggest that the lights reduced casualties by over 50%."
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