A 25-year-old female loggerhead turtle can now swim at a relatively normal speed thanks to its being fitted with new prosthetic limbs designed and manufactured by a team of researchers working with the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe, Japan.
Inhabitat informs us that the turtle was left without over a third of its front flippers by a shark that had attacked it but which did not succeed in killing it and feasting on it.
The turtle's new set of limbs are made from rubber, and researchers had to work long and hard to figure out which design would best benefit the animal.
In order to attach the prosthetic flippers to its body, those trying to help the sea turtle also had to develop a vest.
“We have worked hard to design the vest in a way that prevents the turtle from taking it off unwittingly. It can flutter the limbs as the vest is soft,” argued Naoki Kamezaki, the aquarium's curator.