How 3D Printing Helps Sea Turtles with Bubble Butt Syndrome

December 21, 2024 6:41 AM

Bubble Butt, also known as positive buoyancy syndrome, is an increasingly common disorder among turtles like Charlotte, a male green sea turtle at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. The syndrome is caused by trauma — typically from run-ins with boats — and creates an irregularity in the turtles’ shells that traps air, crowds their organs, and makes it very difficult to swim normally... Dr. Flower and the rest of the veterinary team realized they needed to think outside the box for a solution, and 3D printing was at the top of the list.
posted by ShooBoo (3 comments total)

Voldetort, bwahahaha
posted by Wretch729 at 10:11 AM on December 21, 2024 [1 favorite]

Apparently anytime there's a bubble in the butt things can be problematic. Hooray for the vet team and yippie for Charlotte! Apparently green turtles live to 70+ years and can get 4 foot long/450 lbs, and the adjustments on his belt and recalibration on his weights is going to be a long-term thing. Hopefully the project will be funded for his lifetime, and many other turtles will be able to benefit. (Although it's just wrong that they have to be subject to that damage to begin with. Surely someone could develop some sort of sound or vibration that can repel them from being hit?) Looks like there will be a lot of volunteers on this project, though.

Go on and live your best green life, Charlotte!
posted by BlueHorse at 11:28 AM on December 21, 2024

They haven't tested it with weights yet, so it's promising but incomplete.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 2:29 PM on December 21, 2024