Vet uses ancient method to treat turtle

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. --- Months after Duffy suffered grievous cuts from a boat propeller, the 75-pound loggerhead sea turtle circles her tank flashing glimpses of the deep wound her veterinarians have plugged with what looks like some sort of milky, mystery paste.

The sticky stuff vets at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center have used to seal Duffy's wound may have saved her life. It's a new treatment for injured sea turtles that has roots in ancient Rome -- and it's about as low-tech as medicine gets.

The mystery paste is actually beeswax from a mashed-up honeycomb, generously coated with honey.

Dr. Terry Norton, director of the sea turtle hospital on Jekyll Island, says he wasn't sure Duffy would survive after a research boat found her in June off the northern Florida cost.

A boat propeller had cracked her massive shell, nearly severed her rear right flipper and sliced so deeply into the flesh that Dr. Norton could bury both his fists inside the wound.

Dr. Norton says slathering Duffy's wound with honey seems to help kill bacteria that cause infection while also boosting her immune system.

The beeswax packed several inches into the cut keeps out water that bacteria and fungus need to grow.

"It seems to be working better than anything else we've done," Mr. Norton says after wrestling Duffy to the edge of her tank for an antibiotic shot. "I definitely think it's healing faster. The wound's getting smaller."

May R. Berenbaum, an entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says she's not surprised honey would be beneficial to an injured sea turtle -- or any other animal, including humans.

The healing properties of honey have been known to physicians for thousands of years. It fell by the wayside as a treatment for cuts and sores in the 1940s when antibiotics first went into mass production.

"Ancient Roman soldiers used to carry honey in their medical gear expressly for wound treatment," Ms. Berenbaum says. "But the era of synthetic drugs kind of knocked it, and a lot of things, out of use."

Some honeys make potent medicines because bees make it from plant nectars full of flavonoids and other chemicals that are antimicrobial, meaning they kill germs, and antioxidants, which can boost immunity.

Dr. Norton, a former zoo veterinarian, says he had previously used honey to treat injuries in tigers and other animals. He'd tried using it on sea turtles at the Georgia hospital, but the honey would wash away quickly after water seeped into the turtles' bandages.

One of Dr. Norton's interns, whose parents are beekeepers, had the idea of using honeycomb wax to pack the wound. Mashed into a paste, the beeswax has the consistency of thick oatmeal and is easily molded to fit inside cuts and gashes.

The honey concoction has another benefit: Unlike gauze dressings, which have to be changed every day or two, the beeswax dressing can remain clean and in place for up to two weeks.