Sea Turtle With ‘Bubble Butt Syndrome’ Swimming Again Thanks to 3D-Printed Harness

Back in 2008, Charlotte the sea turtle got hit by a boat, leaving him with spinal damage and a paralyzed set of back flippers. The tragic accident resulted in a funny-sounding but also still tragic medical problem. Bubble Butt Syndrome is a delightfully childish name for a rather sad condition. It’s when a turtle has air trapped in their shell after sustaining some kind of physical trauma.

Charlotte, a green sea turtle who calls Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium his home, was left floating in awkward positions that had her butt sticking out the top of the surface of the water. Imagine one of the ways you get your food is by diving below the surface of the water, only you can’t because you have a flotation device around your waist keeping your lower half hovering around the surface. That was Charlotte’s life.

Charlotte’s veterinary team tried all sorts of ideas to get him swimming again. They tried adding weights to his body. When that didn’t work, they added a fabric sling that added a little bit more weight to his rear end. They got caught on a wall and torn off. Nothing was working until someone had the ingenious idea of bringing some modern 3D printing technology into the fold.

Sea Turtle Swimming Thanks to 3D-printed Harness

In collaboration with 3D printing companies Formlabs and Adia, along with New Balance Athletics, the team was able to design and print a lightweight, flexible, and adjustable harness that allows Charlotte to swim more naturally.

When the harness was finally ready, they strapped it to Charlotte, who quickly took to the new weight and balance it provided. After years of struggling with Bubble Butt, Charlotte was finally swimming like a normal sea turtle again. In time, more weight will be added to the harness to increase its buoyancy.

So far, the harness is working so well that Formlabs is working out how to scale the project so aquariums around can upload a scan of a turtle suffering from Bubble Butt and, using an online design tool, export a file that allows them to customize, print, and assemble a harness specifically for their own ailing sea turtles.