Turtle with 'the bends' treated in oxygen chamber

A rescued turtle that cannot go underwater because of excessive gas bubbles is undergoing treatment in a hyperbaric chamber used on scuba divers suffering 'the bends'.

Tucker, a 20-year-old sea turtle from the endangered olive ridley species, was rescued in December after being washed ashore on the coast of Oregon, far from his natural stomping grounds in southern California and Mexico. Marine experts believe he was knocked off course by December storms, and drifted into colder waters, developing hypothermia and pneumonia in the process.

After three months of painstaking care from the staff at the Seattle Aquarium, Tucker has made a full recovery – with one exception. A build-up of nitrogen bubbles in his body means that he cannot dive or swim underwater, skills vital for finding food in the wild.

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Seattle Aquarium spokesman Tim Kuniholm explained that internal gas bubbles were acting as a kind of lifejacket, making the 32kg (5st) turtle too buoyant to stay beneath the surface.

In humans, these nitrogen bubbles can form when scuba divers ascend too quickly, resulting in what is known as decompression sickness or 'the bends'. Symptoms commonly include joint pain, nausea, and numbness, and can occasionally even be fatal.

Tucker has the honour of being the first non-human patient to be treated in Virginia Mason Hospital's hyperbaric chamber. Inside the pressurised chamber, patients suffering from decompression sickness breathe in pure oxygen for two hours at a time. The combination of air pressure and high volumes of oxygen is designed to push out the gas bubbles.

"He could remain in human care, but that's not our goal," Kuniholm said. Instead, if the tests show the procedure has been a success, staff are hoping to release a newly pressurised Tucker into the warm waters off San Diego, California.