3D Printed Brace Helps Sea Turtle Survive and Thrive

Birch Aquarium teamed up with the UC San Diego Library’s Digital Media Lab to 3D print a brace for its Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/196851/sea-turtle-3d-printed-brace/

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has teamed up with the Digital Media Lab at UC San Diego’s Geisel Library to create what is believed to be the first 3D printed brace for a sea turtle’s shell.

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle was rescued from a New Jersey power plant in 2013 with a large gap in the bottom right part of her shell. This gap, along with an abnormal curve of her spine and paralysis of her back flippers, is likely due to trauma experienced in the wild before she was rescued.

[Video/description: UCSD]