Sea Turtle Prosthetic Flipper

While this article has very little to do with humans, I though it was interesting. A 5-inch seaturtle was rescued and had only 1 flipper, thought to be the result of a shark attack. An intern begged to keep the seaturtle around and nurse it back to health, and it is now 10 lbs and has healed well, defying the odds. However it can still only swim in counter-clockwise circles and is not fit to be returned to the wild. Now, the Sea Turtle rescuers are trying to fit it with a prosthetic flipper on its back left limb. A dental expert from UT plans to build a prosthetic flipper from silicon and use dental instruments that are about the right size for the sea turtle's surgery. Placing a second flipper will enable the turtle, who is otherwise developing normally to swim much more efficiently. This has never been done before, and while this sea turtle will never be released back into the wild, this method could be improved and used to help 3 flippered sea turtles that are able to survive in the wild but are less likely to reproduce.

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333670,00.html