The turtle was seriously wounded in an encounter with a boat propellor, but is now on the road to recovery thanks to an imaginative medical team.

The 99 lb (45 kg) turtle was nearly lifeless when a rescue team came across it floating in the sea. The rescuers took the animal back to Turkey's Dalyan Iztuzu Pamukkale University (PAU), where they tended to its injuries and fed it until it was in a stable condition.

From there, it teamed up with 3D printing service provider BTech to produce a custom beak. This process saw CT scans translated to 3D models, which were then turned into replica of the turtle's upper and lower jaws. Finally, the design was 3D printed in medical-grade titanium and was successfully implanted by a surgical team.