It’s amazing what science and technology can do today, like giving a disabled sea turtle the ability to swim again. Hofesh, meaning “freedom” in Hebrew, is a sea turtle living in Israel who lost his two left-side fins when he was entangled in a fishing net four years ago.
The amputations immobilized the poor sea creature, who would drown if it weren’t for his special new fighter-jet inspired prosthetic wings. The device was developed by Israeli design student Shlomi Gez, who based his creation off of aeronautics company Lockheed Martin’s supersonic F-22 Raptor fighter jet. Made of biological material that grows, the artificial implant works well to stabilize the turtle in water, giving him the gift of swimming once again.
Unfortunately, Hofesh will never be released into the wild because he would drown if the fin fell off. He will continue to live at the rescue center with his blind female tank-mate, who also cannot be released, in the hopes of breeding the two.
via Huffington Post
