On the 3rd of November 2016, Hiona, a green sea turtle, was discovered at the emergence of her nest. She was in an extremely weak state and unable to lift her head up to breath. She was rapatriated to the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center managed by Te mana o te moana (authorized by a decree of the Ministry of Environment).
She was first identified as an albino turtle, but as she grows, we noticed that her scales are going darker with time. We now think that this young turtle is not a real albino turtle but that she suffered from a lack of melanin, which justifies why she started getting darker. She also has an abnormality on her shells’ scale pattern, and a deformation on her shell. As for all the rehabilitating turtles, Hiona’s length, weight and health is followed carefully.
As the months progressed, the color of her shell’s scales continued to darken and seem to settle on a dark brown. Her deformation on the back, however, continues to widen… Nevertheless, Hiona has a lot of energy and a very good overall health. She has been moved from her floating nursery to a bigger nursery directly in the rehabilitation lagoon, where she can get familiar with fish, crustaceans or algae in an environment as close as possible as in the wild.
On the 3rd of November 2016, Hiona, a green sea turtle, was discovered at the emergence of her nest. She was in an extremely weak state and unable to lift her head up to breath. She was rapatriated to the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center managed by Te mana o te moana (authorized by a decree of the Ministry of Environment).
She was first identified as an albino turtle, but as she grows, we noticed that her scales are going darker with time. We now think that this young turtle is not a real albino turtle but that she suffered from a lack of melanin, which justifies why she started getting darker. She also has an abnormality on her shells’ scale pattern, and a deformation on her shell. As for all the rehabilitating turtles, Hiona’s length, weight and health is followed carefully.
As the months progressed, the color of her shell’s scales continued to darken and seem to settle on a dark brown. Her deformation on the back, however, continues to widen… Nevertheless, Hiona has a lot of energy and a very good overall health. She has been moved from her floating nursery to a bigger nursery directly in the rehabilitation lagoon, where she can get familiar with fish, crustaceans or algae in an environment as close as possible as in the wild.
