A sea turtle in Kansas City is now swimming with ease after receiving a custom weighted harness. Tortellini the sea turtle was found off the coast of Florida in February 2020, suffering trauma to the back end of her shell. Rescuers said it was likely caused by a boat propeller. She was sent to a rehabilitation facility for treatment, but was deemed nonreleasable due to the extent of her injuries. That’s how she ended up at the Kansas City Zoo’s Sobela Ocean Aquarium in August 2023. Because of the injury to her shell, thousands of air bubbles can get trapped under the shell, causing her back end to float upward. This doesn’t stop her from swimming, and she is able to reach the bottom of her habitat, but she half-floats upward while relaxing. Zoo staff wanted to help her achieve a more neutral buoyancy. “We tried many solutions here at the Zoo,” said Stu Clausen, aquatics curator at the KC Zoo. “But what we decided is that we needed to come up with an external way of applying weight that’s not attached to her shell. That’s where our friends at KCNSC stepped in.” On a visit to the zoo in 2024, Holly Weber, a scientist with the Kansas City National Security Campus, noticed Tortellini’s unusual swimming and did some research. She found that turtles with similar buoyancy issues were able to swim normally with a 3D-printed harness. So Weber pitched the idea to her coworkers. “This was too cool to pass up,” chief scientist Dan Bowen said. “Not only was this something KCNSC could do, but it also would be really valuable to the community. And the idea of helping this cute turtle swim better just melts your heart.” KCNSC scientists and the zoo worked together for nearly a year, exploring what materials to use and even doing a 3D scan of Tortellini’s shell to make a model of it.When they introduced a prototype in December 2025, carefully testing it out on a model before putting it on Tortellini, her caregivers said she barely seemed to notice the harness and swam like normal. After a few more tweaks, the final version was ready. When they got the harness on, once again, Tortellini “immediately seemed comfortable.” Now, Tortellini is able to swim and relax without buoyancy issues. Photojournalist Todd Ummelmann with sister station KMBC video of Tortellini in her habitat on Friday. “I’ve been doing this a long time, almost 35 years, and this is the most personally rewarding project I’ve ever worked on,” Weber said. “It’s so thrilling to see her be able to have turtle behaviors. Sleep on the bottom of the pool, not have to wedge herself under a rock; it’s wonderful.” “This partnership was a perfect fit,” said Sean Putney, executive director and CEO of the Kansas City Zoo. “It touches your heart when you have a local group that is willing to be involved, and who knows, maybe we’ll have some things they can do to help other animals down the road!” The 3D-printed shell model and prototype were gifted to the zoo so staff can teach visitors about the device and the work that went into it.
A sea turtle in Kansas City is now swimming with ease after receiving a custom weighted harness.
Tortellini the sea turtle was found off the coast of Florida in February 2020, suffering trauma to the back end of her shell. Rescuers said it was likely caused by a boat propeller.
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She was sent to a rehabilitation facility for treatment, but was deemed nonreleasable due to the extent of her injuries.
That’s how she ended up at the Kansas City Zoo’s Sobela Ocean Aquarium in August 2023.
Because of the injury to her shell, thousands of air bubbles can get trapped under the shell, causing her back end to float upward.
This doesn’t stop her from swimming, and she is able to reach the bottom of her habitat, but she half-floats upward while relaxing.
Zoo staff wanted to help her achieve a more neutral buoyancy.
“We tried many solutions here at the Zoo,” said Stu Clausen, aquatics curator at the KC Zoo. “But what we decided is that we needed to come up with an external way of applying weight that’s not attached to her shell. That’s where our friends at KCNSC stepped in.”
On a visit to the zoo in 2024, Holly Weber, a scientist with the Kansas City National Security Campus, noticed Tortellini’s unusual swimming and did some research. She found that turtles with similar buoyancy issues were able to swim normally with a 3D-printed harness. So Weber pitched the idea to her coworkers.
“This was too cool to pass up,” chief scientist Dan Bowen said. “Not only was this something KCNSC could do, but it also would be really valuable to the community. And the idea of helping this cute turtle swim better just melts your heart.”
KCNSC scientists and the zoo worked together for nearly a year, exploring what materials to use and even doing a 3D scan of Tortellini’s shell to make a model of it.
When they introduced a prototype in December 2025, carefully testing it out on a model before putting it on Tortellini, her caregivers said she barely seemed to notice the harness and swam like normal.
After a few more tweaks, the final version was ready. When they got the harness on, once again, Tortellini “immediately seemed comfortable.”
Now, Tortellini is able to swim and relax without buoyancy issues.
Photojournalist Todd Ummelmann with sister station KMBC video of Tortellini in her habitat on Friday.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, almost 35 years, and this is the most personally rewarding project I’ve ever worked on,” Weber said. “It’s so thrilling to see her be able to have turtle behaviors. Sleep on the bottom of the pool, not have to wedge herself under a rock; it’s wonderful.”
“This partnership was a perfect fit,” said Sean Putney, executive director and CEO of the Kansas City Zoo. “It touches your heart when you have a local group that is willing to be involved, and who knows, maybe we’ll have some things they can do to help other animals down the road!”
The 3D-printed shell model and prototype were gifted to the zoo so staff can teach visitors about the device and the work that went into it.
