Posted on behalf of David Cyranoski

A turtle in Japan may soon be fit with prosthetic fins. The 68-kilogram, 20-year-old Yu-chan, “believed to be female,” was caught in a fishing net last June looking the victim of a shark attack: half her left forelimb and one-third of her right forelimb were missing. She had shark teeth-marks everywhere.

The Sea Turtle Association of Japan has been orchestrating a repair job using artificial limbs. They are set for a challenge because turtles have fragile bones, and their limbs must be flexible for land or sea travel. “There is no known successful case of artificial limbs being attached to sea turtles”, says the Kyodo News.

But then again, how many times has it been tried? There’s always Allison of Texas, who similarly had a run-in with a shark and got a prosthetic flipper attached to a dental bone implant (Reuters).

Turtles have also been fitted with other prosthetics. Great care, for example, went into a dentist’s efforts to attach an artificial jaw to a box turtle. But overall, dogs, dolphins and other animals have been more frequent beneficiaries.

No doubt such prosthetics, drawing on what we know from human artificial limbs, are getting better. But the best advice for any beloved turtles would still be to keep them away from sharks.

Image: Kyodo