MARATHON, Fla. – A dentist used denture repair adhesive to help mend an endangered green sea turtle’s fractured shell.
Fred Troxel used the acrylic resin to bond two metal orthopedic plates across a 25-centimetre split in the injured animal’s shell. On Thursday he examined Elena, a 18-kilogram adolescent reptile he had treated the day before.
![For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get breaking National news
The Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys has been caring for Elena for a month, since the creature was recovered from a Key West beach. Officials believe the turtle washed up after it was hit by a boat.
Hospital manager Bette Zirkelbach says she is optimistic Elena can one day be released into the wild, but the reptile faces a lengthy road to a full recovery. She also has several fibropapilloma tumors that must be surgically removed.
Comments