Seven sea turtles being released this Saturday!

Seven sea turtles will be released this Saturday, May 7th at the Isle of Palms County Park at 5pm. County Park parking fees will apply and parking is limited. We highly encourage you to carpool, even if from somewhere on the island or in Mt. Pleasant, and to come out extra early to avoid traffic.
Meet the sea turtles being released (captions follow each comparison photo):

Ripley


The little green sea turtle, Ripley, was the victim of a boat strike. After months of wound treatment and antibiotics, Ripley has recovered and is ready to rejoin the sea turtle population!

St. Catherine

St. Catherine was caught on a SCDNR research vessel and had an unfortunate run-in with a stingray. The stingray barb broke off in the tissue between the shoulder and neck and had to be surgically removed. St. Catherine is all better and ready to go to her ocean home!

Hyde

Hyde is a juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle that was part of cold stunning event off the NC coast in December. Over 100 sea turtles stranded as part of this event. Hyde really likes to sleep with his head in the PVC tube!

Guardian

Guardian is also a Kemp's ridley from the 2010 NC cold stunning event and can often be seen spashing around in her tank, quite different than the lethargic turtle she was at admission.

Hilton


Hilton, a loggerhead sea turtle, washed up last summer on Hilton Head debilitated and covered in barnacles. Hilton has made a great recovery and is one spunky turtle!
Palmer

Palmer, the loggerhead from the Isle of Palms, is one of the most serverely emaciated and anemic sea turtles we have ever treated. 25 pounds heavier and robust, this turtle is ready for the wild!

Pirate

Pirate stranded on Myrtle Beach in front of Pirate Land Campground and was found to be suffering from lockjaw. After 8 months of tube feeding and doing physical therapy on the jaws, he could open his mouth just enough to fit in small peices of fish. Over the next year, he made great progress and is now able to feed on large, live blue crabs. After almost 2 years in our care, this animal is finally ready for release!
We are so excited to be sending these animals home after their remarkable recoveries. Thanks to the SC Department of Natural Resources and all involved in the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these animals!
-Kelly

Palmer has improved dramatically!

Five months ago, Palmer came to us on death's door. The lethargic loggerhead was skin on bones, severely anemic, had no detectable blood glucose, and the bony carapace was soft around the edges from being metabolized by the turtle for survival. These severely debilitated turtles are tough - over a month into rehabilitation and we still weren't confident "she" would live. But slowly she started making that turn for the better, putting on a small amount of weight and blood parameters climbing, little by little. As you can see by the comparison photos below, she has come a long way now!

For the first two months, Palmer was floating at the surface of her tank. In the photo below, she was cleaned of the barnacles and algae but was still so lethargic that most who saw her like this didn't believe she was alive.

And look at her now...almost 20 pounds heavier, flapping her flippers and getting us wet as we take her out of the tank. That's what we like to see!

We are all thrilled with the progress that Palmer has made. She will continue to improve over the winter months and will hopefully be ready for release next summer. Until then, book your reservation for the South Carolina Aquarium and Sea Turtle Hospital tour and come see Palmer for yourself!

PS - Thanks for the amazing photos, Barb!

Kelly

18th Green and May showing signs of improvement; Palmer still not out of the woods

Three sea turtles admitted into the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital over the last 8 weeks have been undergoing intense medical treatment to stay alive. Although we are seeing improvements in all three, the prognosis of one patient is still very much guarded. Here is the latest on these sea turtle patients:

18th Green
This juvenile green sea turtle has been suffering from a debilitating intestinal impaction. Treatment included subcutaneous fluids 2X/day to combat dehydration, vitamin and antibiotic injections, tube feeding of mineral oil concoctions, enemas, and almost daily radiographs to be sure the impaction was moving through the intestinal tract. Just last week, the animal finally defecated a few times and it was almost no surprise that several pieces of plastics were in the fecal matter. These vegetarian green sea turtles often eat plastics that collect in seagrass beds in which they feed. This should be an important reminder to keep trash out of our natural environment! Below are photos of an x-ray (one of 40!) and 18th Green floating from gas build-up in the intestines as well as video taken today of her finally swimming around her tank. She still a little bouyant but much less than before.

May
This little Kemp's ridley is one lucky turtle! Not many small turtles survive boat strikes but after 2 months of rigorous treatment, this little turtle is finally eating on his own and is no longer positively buoyant. We are regularly treating the open wounds and giving antibiotics to keep infection away. It may take this little turtle a while to get over this one! The photos below are of May just after surgery to wire portions of the shell together and the most recent underwater shot of May resting on the bottom of the hospital tank, refreshing to see after several weeks of floating at the surface.

Palmer
Palmer is the newest stranding in the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital arriving on June 16th. The 90-pound loggerhead is severely debilitated and after 3 weeks of treatment, the prognosis is still guarded. With a white blood cell count of 28, this animal is on a double regimen of antibiotics as well as vitamins and minerals to combat severely low blood chemistries and counts. Palmer has just started eating and was transferred out of the triage tank and into a filtered tank - certainly a move in the right direction. Below is a photo of Palmer in the new tank. S/he is positively buoyant and we are hoping this issue will resolve as the turtle's health improves. This isn't a pretty photo but it is what we are dealing with right now. The second photo is Palmer getting subcutaneous fluids from Kristen and Mary.

Keep track of the progress on all 8 patients at the Sea Turtle Hospital's webpage or come visit the patients in person at the Aquarium! Details of tour times and days are listed on the website. Thanks to all for your support of this program. The old proverb about raising a child is also true about saving sea turtles… “It takes a village.”

Kelly