FORMLABA harness with adjustable straps and weights corrects the turtle’s buoyancyFORMLAB
Thanks to a weighted harness, Charlotte, a male green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, USA, can now swim and float, despite suffering from positive buoyancy syndrome, also known as bubble butt syndrome. The problem is caused by trauma, such as collisions with boats, which causes an irregularity in the shell that traps air and causes turtles to swim with their bottoms up and their heads down. The new device that allowed Charlotte to swim normally began with a 3D-printed belt project published by the magazine Science News Explores. São Paulo–born Gabriela Queiroz Miranda, then a high school student in Minnesota and now a safety and rides engineer at a theme park in Florida, won the Naval Science Award for the project in 2019. The article inspired the Mystic Aquarium team to try something similar to make life easier for Charlotte the turtle, estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old, who was rescued in 2008 when veterinarians found he was unable to swim or eat enough to survive. Experts in 3D printing from three companies took part in the development of the harness, composed of straps attached to small weights (Popular Science, December 17).
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