Little Boy Sets Wounded Turtle Free In Happy Ending: Video

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — In one of the most heartwarming endings ever, Lori Beppu of Southampton brought her son Finn Tiska, 6, to Towd Point Road in Southampton this week for the release of a three-legged turtle they'd rescued two years earlier.

Beppu said in June, 2017, her son Finn, who loves fishing, was playing at Towd Point in the reeds and came across the injured turtle. "For a second, we thought it was dead, then we realized it was alive, but he was dragging one of his legs," she said.

After Googling a wildlife rescue hotline, Beppu was put in touch with Karen Testa, director of the Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons in Jamesport. Testa, who dedicates her life to saving turtles, recently shared information on what to do if you find a turtle with a cracked shell on the road; her advice reached thousands of people eager to help.

Beppu, who also has a son Bode Tiska, now 4, said her family was touched by Testa's "passion and energy."

After getting the turtle, named Terry, safely to the .Jamesport facility, Testa kept the family updated on his progress. Badly injured, his leg was amputated, and for two years, he received loving physical therapy and learned how to swim, float, and dive for food again, Testa said.

This week, Testa and Finn cheered on Terry as he swam off to his new life.

"We all like a happy ending. This is a great one," Beppu said.

Testa said Terry first came in to the Turtle Rescue on June 4, 2017 with a broken leg and a shell fracture after being injured by a boat propeller. "We tried to save it but it was very, very badly broken," she said. "He had surgery to amputate it."

For more than a year, she said, "We had to acclimate him over a year to be able to rebalance himself while swimming with one leg," a process that involved intense physical therapy.

This week, Testa was happy to bring Terry home. "I made sure I put him in a safe place away from boats but in his same area," she said.

Terry is a diamondback terrapin, a type of turtle that has faced significant challenges in recent years, Testa said.

Terrapins face dangers in the form of boat propellers — the number one killer — followed by car strikes on the road, crab traps, and a recent die-off attributed to toxins in area waters, she said.

"These are all killers of diamondback terrapins," Testa said.

At the Turtle Rescue, there are other diamondbacks who suffered boat propeller injuries that are not yet ready for release.

In past years, diamondback terrapins struggled as Americans savored them as a culinary delicacy in dishes including turtle soup, according to an NPR post. "Almost overnight, the diamondback terrapin — a small coastal turtle found from Cape Cod to the Gulf Coast — went from subsistence food to luxury cuisine, showing up on menus from the White House to Gold Rush-era San Francisco," the post said.

The results were dire, leading to overharvesting and a threatened terrapin population, the post said.

Terrapin, NPR said, is a name derived from the Algonquin, Abenaki and Delaware words for "edible" or "good-tasting turtle," and was part of the Native American diet for centuries.

Threats ensued for decades: In 2015, a terrapin die-off was reported in New York, according to a post by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, which said that, from late April into May 2015, hundreds of diamondback terrapin turtles washed up on beaches; simultaneously an on-going Alexandrium fundyense bloom occurred.

"Alexandrium produces a potent neurotoxin, saxitoxin, which is the cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning," the post said; PSP was suspected as the cause of the die off.

John Turner, conservation policy advocate for the Seatuck Environmental Association, recently completed a project at Cedar Beach and Mount Sinai Harbor, working with Scouts to place 550' of black tubing to prevent female terrapins that come out of the harbor from heading north "in harm's way on Harbor Road" where many have been struck by cars.

Diamondback terrapins, he said, "are wonderful turtles" found on Long Island in areas including Accabonac Harbor and Cedar Beach in Southold, sheltered environments with marshes.

Another project Turner has worked on to protect the turtles are "terrapin excluder devices" to be placed on the vents of commercial crab pots. The diamondback terrapin, he said, are often drawn to the bail in the pots meant to attract blue claw crabs, but they drown in the pots, unable to get out, he said.

In past years, regulations have been created to protect the turtles but more needs to be done to help protect them from the car strikes, crab pots and boat propellors, he said.

Education is critical, Turner said; most driving along the roads of Long Island are not trained to look ahead for the turtles. He urged anyone who might strike a turtle to lend a hand. "If they have an accident, they have a moral responsibility to stop and see if they can help," he said.

Helping the injured turtle was a forever life lesson for Finn Tiska, his mother said, after the release. "It was really special for Finn; he was 4 years old at the time when he discovered the turtle. It was special for us to be included in the release and see his recovery. We've come full circle."

Her boys, she added, are now aware of threats to turtles, including boat propellors.

As a mom, helping her son to save the turtle and nurture one of nature's most vulnerable creatures, Beppu said, was deeply rewarding. "My boys love nature. To be able to have that connection in a very personal way supports the values I'm trying to instill in my children," she said.