Courtesy of St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station
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Tsunami arrived at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on July 18, 2017, with injuries to the left side of the head behind the eye and extending down over the maxilla into the mandible, the distilled part of the jaw and to the left front flipper.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect Tsunami as a female sea turtle.
The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station's newest aquatic creature recently arrived. Meet Tsunami, a 66.13-pound, 24.2-inch long Green Sea Turtle. Tsunami is a boat strike survivor from Shellman’s Bluff Fish Camp in Townsend, Georgia. She was eating through a tube for three months in critical care until she started showing interest in her favorite foods, leafy lettuce, cucumbers, and peppers. Tsunami comes through the nonprofit Turtles Fly Too, which provides private pilots to fly rescue turtles to their new homes and reduce the travel time and stress of transport on the animals.
Tsunami is being rehomed to our aquarium—which just reopened on June 8 after closing to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. She will live in a large tank and the aquarium's professional animal care team will continue her jaw therapy as needed. Tsunami is the first sea turtle at the aquarium. As an endangered species, Sea Turtles are governed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and they can only be cared for in facilities that are approved by the agency.
Tsunami is being transferred to her new home in the Shark Canyon habitat on July 1. After the release, visitors can look for her through the viewing windows as she explores her new 250,000-gallon habitat. Want to head in to see her? Make sure you understand the institution's new protocols for social distancing.
Here are 5 more fun facts to know about Tsunami:
1. She can live to be 80 years old.
2. She’s one of the largest turtle species.
3. She eats seagrass and algae, which might be the reason she has the green-colored fat and cartilage that inspired her species name.
4. She breathes oxygen and can spend up to two hours underwater before coming up to the surface to breathe.
5. She can drink salt water by excreting the extra salt through “salt glands” behind her eyes.
Note: St. Louis Aquarium's original press release about her arrival called Tsunami a "he," but the pronouns have now changed to "she/her" after some additional testing.
