Leatherback on a Leash

Some species have historically proven very difficult to keep in zoos and aquariums, and those are typically species that zoos do not deliberately work with.  Sometimes, however, an animal in need shows up at your doorstep, and when it does, you can be sure that the dedicated zoo staff will do all that they can to help.  Consider this interesting case study ongoing at the Brevard Zoo in Florida.

Whereas many sea turtles adapt well to life in aquariums, the largest and most spectacular species, the leatherback, typically does not.  This is largely due to their pelagic nature - the species can't seem to stop itself from swimming into the walls of tanks, injuring itself (the challenges of keeping this species are detailed in The Captive Sea by Craig Phillips of the Miami Seaquarium).  When this little guy, suffering from a jaw injury, was brought to the zoo's turtle hospital, creative solutions were required.  Video footage can be found here (I haven't figured out a way to embed Facebook reels).

The string on the turtle's shell allows the turtle to swim, but not too close to the walls of the tub where he could collide.  It wouldn't be an ideal method of keeping an adult leatherback turtle long term, so does nothing to address the challenge of keeping adults in aquariums - but that's not the goal here.  The hope is that the hatchling will soon be well enough to be released, and then can swim as far as it wants to in any direction, without fear of crashing into anything.