Overview
- Visitors can now see Meatloaf, a more than 200-pound green sea turtle, as she recovers at the Long Beach aquarium with the goal of release.
- The aquarium launched a public appeal to raise $50,000 to pay for surgery veterinarians expect will be needed to rebuild her injured front flipper.
- Her right front flipper remains swollen after multiple procedures to clean wounds and remove scar tissue, and turtles heal slowly.
- Volunteers spotted the entangled turtle in the San Gabriel River in January, then NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife teams transferred her to the aquarium for care.
- The case is unfolding in a rehab area that opened in January with a nearly 4,000-gallon pool, reflecting recurring turtle entanglements in debris- and gear-filled local waterways.