PHOTO BLOG: September 14, 2013 Sea Turtle Release

Thanks to all who came out to watch Parker, Dennis, Crosby and Skully be returned to the ocean after several months of rehabilitation at the South Carolina Aquarium! For those of you that were unable to make it, here are a few shots of these beautiful creatures going home.


Parker:  The five-pound juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle was accidentally caught by a recreational fisherman at the Myrtle Beach State Park Pier in June 2013. 

Parker avoiding capture from Kelly!

Sea Turtle Hospital volunteer Jo Durham shows Parker to onlookers as she heads down the beach!

 

Dennis: This juvenile Kemp's ridley was one of 18 cold stunned sea turtles admitted by the South Carolina Aquarium in the winter of 2012/13. Dennis was last of the cold-stuns to be released due a joint infection he developed in the right front flipper.

Sea Turtle Hospital volunteer Jo Durham and laser therapist Jennifer Oliverio pose with Parker and Dennis right before release, with a little help from adoptive parent sign holders, Kendal and Ainsley Chunn!



Jennifer Oliverio show Dennis off to onlooker while making her way down the beach.



A beautiful photograph of Dennis before s/he heads in!

Crosby: A 9-pound juvenile green sea turtle was found floating near Crosby's Seafood on the Folly River in April of this year, the same night as the Aquarium's Annual Conservation Gala.

Crosby is pulled from his/her tank right before heading to the beach!



Sea Turtle Hospital volunteer Jacquie Miller shows off Crosby to the crowd with some help from sign holder, Nate Millen!



Crosby getting a little excited!

Taking a little rest before heading in.

 

Skully: The 70-pound juvenile loggerhead stranded on a sandbar in Skull Inlet near Fripp Island in June.

Kelly and Lee load the Skully into the transport bin.

Janie and Mallory from the Fripp Island Turtle Team with Skully.

Janie, Mallory and Kelly carried Skully to the waters edge. The Aquarium's partnership with the turtle nest protection teams are so important! The Oliverio kids held signs so the onlookers knew who was being released!



A great shot of the large crowd watching Skully head home!



Heading home!


These releases bring the South Carolina Aquarium to 129 sea turtles released since the start of the program in 2000. A big thanks to everyone who makes the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these sea turtles possible, including the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission, donors, volunteers, interns, and the media that helps to spread the good word about our work!



Whitney Daniel

Sea Turtle Biologist

July 31, 2013 Sea Turtle Release Photo Blog!



Sutton:  Juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle; one of 18 cold stunned sea turtles admitted by the South Carolina Aquarium in the winter of 2012/13. To learn more about Sutton's admission and rehab, go to his/her hospital page.

 

Sutton is pulled from his/her tank with loggerhead, Pluff watching in the background!

2013 Sea Turtle Hospital Summer Intern, Megan Kelley, gives Sutton a lift to the water with a big smile on her face. Martha holds the sign to let everyone know the turtle's name. 

A little turtle in front of a big crowd...but there was no stage fright! Sutton wasted no time scurrying into deeper water!

Headed home!

Raker: Juvenile green sea turtle; the first live stranding of the 2013 SC stranding season. To learn more about Sutton's admission and rehab, go to his/her hospital page.

Raker just before being lifted from his/her tank to head to the beach.

2013 Sea Turtle Hospital Summer Intern, Carissa Brown, shows Raker to onlookers as she makes her way down the beach. Our young sign holder, Anne, helped everyone see who was being released. 

A beautiful close-up of Raker.

Slow and steady, Raker made his way into the ocean.

Megan and Carissa have each worked 40-50 hours per week in the Sea Turtle Hospital this summer and are captured relishing in the excitement of helping to rehabilitate and release these endangered species.

 

Splinter: Juvenile loggerhead sea turtle caught on board a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources research vessel; found with a large foreign object embedded in a rear flipper. To learn more about Splinter's admission and rehab, go to his/her hospital page.

Sign holders, Susanna and Lily watch as Splinter is pulled out of the transport container.

Mike Arendt (right), Principal Investigator of SCDNR In-Water Research Program and Lexi Mechem (left), past Sea Turtle Hospital intern, release Splinter, a beautiful loggerhead that was rescued by the In-Water Research Group this year.

Splinter was placed on the beach for a few moments and quickly turned around. Our young sign holder, Campbell enjoyed her time with this funny turtle!

Splinter on the beach with his/her releasers, a few representatives from the media, and the backdrop of a huge crowd of spectators.

A regal photo of this loggerhead.

And away he/she goes!

Thank you to all who make the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these sea turtles possible including the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission, donors, volunteers, interns, and even media that helps to spread the good word about our work. As you can see, the sea turtles releases draw huge crowds and as much as we try to create an organized, wonderful event for all to enjoy, large, excited crowds can sometimes get a little rowdy. Just please always remember to be kind to the people around you and let children up front so they can see, and hopefully everyone will have the experience of a lifetime!
All the best,
Kelly Thorvalson

Earth Fare Donates Organic Produce for the Third Year!

For the third year in a row, Earth Fare has stepped up in a time of need by donating organic vegetables to the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Program! It has been a very busy winter for the Sea Turtle Hospital treating a record 25 patients, six being green sea turtles. Hospital staff strives to provide our patients with a diet that is as close as possible to their natural diets in the wild. Young green sea turtles are omnivores and a large part of their diet consists of plant matter such as algae and sea grass. With help from Earth Fare's weekly donations, we are able to offer a wide variety of healthy organic vegetables such as romaine, green and red leaf lettuces, red and green cabbage, and bell peppers to our green sea turtles.

Earth Fare storefront, located in the South Windmere Shopping Center.

Earth Fare is known for their great selection of organic and local produce. 

Small shot of the huge selection Earth Fare offers.

Great information for buying organic.

Earth Fare's Food Philosophy

Produce Manager Matt Setter, handing over a full box of healthy vegetables.

Ollie is very excited to see all the greens!

Ollie enjoying some organic green leaf lettuce from a PVC feeder which allows the sea turtles to feed naturally off the bottom of the tank.

One behalf of the South Carolina Aquarium and our endangered green sea turtles, we would like to thank Earth Fare for their continued support of the Sea Turtle Rescue Program. Please check out Earth Fare either online or at their amazing store in the South Windmere Shopping Center!

 

Whitney Daniel

Sea Turtle Biologist

Sea Turtles "Bulls Bay" and "Mini Ming" Get Released!

South Carolina Aquarium sea turtle patients "Bulls Bay" (65-lb loggerhead) and "Mini Ming" (5-lb green) were medically cleared for release on Tuesday, February 12th and the relay to release them began! As timing would have it, our NC turtle colleagues were planning a release for over 30 sea turtles that had been treated for cold-stunning in various facilities. The Coast Guard Cutter Block Island would be heading for the Gulf Stream on Thursday morning and we were excited to get Bulls Bay and Mini Ming on the boat. The turtles were weighed, measured, tagged and transported to the NC border where Barbara Bergwerf and I met Sarah Finn from NC Wildlife Resources Commission for the hand off. 

Sea Turtle Hospital Intern Joni and I move Bulls Bay into a transport container. Bulls Bay was originally caught in the SCDNR In-Water Research Program's turtle trawls and was not healthy. Finding the turtle early in his illness possibly saved his life.

Mini Ming originally stranded in Mingo Creek on Kiawah Island and was rescued by naturalists from the Night Heron Nature Center. At the time of admission, Mini was the smallest green sea turtle ever admitted into the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital!

Mini Ming, snug in his/her transport container, has just been through the first leg of the transport and ready for part two - the drive to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores where she would spend the night before being released. 

Sara Finn and I transfer Bulls Bay inside of his container from the Aquarium's husbandry van to the NC Wildlife Commission truck while photographer Barbara Bergwerf documented the move.

Thirty-nine sea turtles were loaded onto US Coast Guard Cutter Block Island Thursday morning and headed for the Gulf Stream. Unfortunately, engine trouble forced the cutter to turn around before the release took place. The turtles were transported to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and a NOAA facility while a back-up plan was made. Special thanks to the NC Aquarium folks for these photographs!

Fortunately, US Coast Guard Cutter Fort Macon stepped in to save the day! On Friday morning, the sea turtles, including Bulls Bay and Mini Ming, were loaded onto cutter Fort Macon to be transported to the Gulf Stream for release.

Crew from the US Coast Guard Fort Macon, NOAA, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and staff from NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores get one last photo before the turtles take off.

The South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue's patient numbers are still higher than ever in the past. It was perfect timing to be able to release these two healthy sea turtles so quickly to have breathing room in our small hospital. Although there are 23 sea turtles still under rehabilitative care, pre-release analyses are getting started on several of the patients and we hope to have more ready for release in the coming weeks. Since the waters are still cold off the SC coast, turtles will be transported to areas where they reside in the winter. Local beach releases will take place again when warm spring weather warms our coastal waters. Stay tuned!

We are grateful to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, US Coast Guard, NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, NOAA, and all others that helped with this release. And we are always extremely grateful for those involved in the initial rescue and the help we receive to rehabilitate these threatened and endangered species. Each step in this process is critical and takes many working together to make it happen. THANK YOU ALL!

Kelly Thorvalson
Sea Turtle Rescue Program Manager

Amazing Healing of Bristol's Shell Fracture

Bristol was in poor condition when s/he arrived at the South Carolina Aquarium from the Bristol Marina in downtown Charleston. With an extremely low heart rate, carapace fractures, and several broken bones in the front flippers, staff thought it would be a long recovery. Supportive care stabilized the young green sea turtle and the shell wound was flushed and wrapped. Pain medication was also initiated.

In an effort to keep the wound sterile, the carapace around the fracture was cleaned.

Radiographs of Bristol- note the severe breaks in the right humerus and left radius and ulna.

Wounds were flushed well with saline.

Both front flippers were stabilized to limit movement and for the first time in the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital, with special thanks to Dr. Shane Woolf, a vacuum-assisted wound therapy was used on the shell fracture. By delivering negative pressure at the wound site using a special vacuum and wound dressings, infectious materials were removed from the injured site. The vacuum increases rate granulation tissue formation and speeds healing.

Front flippers were stabilized with cast-like materials.

A little over a month after admission, granulation tissue has formed across the wound.

In addition to this amazing wound vacuum therapy, Mrs. Jennifer Oliverio has offered her expertise to deliver cold laser therapy to our sick and injured sea turtles, including Bristol. This light-based therapy reduces pain and accelerates healing.

In only 2 1/2 months, the result of these therapies and the wonderful care given at the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital can be seen in the comparison photo below.

The shell fracture comparison of admission (11/13/12) to the current state is striking!

Although this animal has a while to go before the flipper bones are healed enough for release, we would like to send Dr. Shane Woolf and Dr. Jennifer Oliverio our most heartfelt thanks for their donations, both of equipment and time. It is with their help and the help of so many in our community and beyond that we are able to give to give these threatened and endangered species the best chances of survival.

With sincere appreciation,
Kelly Thorvalson
Sea Turtle Rescue Program Manager