Recent Cold Stun Arrivals Bring Patient Load to 25

With the eastern coast of the US experiencing one of the largest cold-stunning events in history, the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Rescue Program has admitted 18 cold stunned sea turtles since December to help. In addition to the ten endangered sea turtles flown in by private pilot on December 5th from New England, 8 additional sea turtles that originally cold stunned North Carolina and New England were recently admitted.

North Carolina Cold Stun Admissions

On Thursday, January 10th, South Carolina Aquarium staff met Sarah Finn from the NC Wildlife Commission at the NC/SC border to transfer three juvenile loggerheads that had recently cold stunned in NC.

Sarah carries a bin with one of the loggerhead sea turtles to the Aquarium's husbandry van.

Each turtle was transferred to a new transport container.

The loggerheads travel in separate containers with padding. It is not necessary to transport them in water since they are air breathers. 

Manteo immediately crawled to the corner of the bin but then stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.

Kit stays calm during the medical evaluation.

The turtles receive full physical examinations.

Buxton goes into the holding pool in the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital.

New England Cold-Stun Admissions

On Monday, January 14th, five additional sea turtles were flown in by private pilot Michael Taylor from the Boston, MA area. The loggerhead and 4 Kemp's ridleys had been receiving treatment at the New England Aquarium's Animal Care Center.

The plane coming in for the landing at Atlantic Aviation in Charleston, SC.

The Piper Cheyenne 400 twin turboprop - a beautiful plane!

Owner and pilot, Michael Taylor lifts the juvenile loggerhead out of the cargo space...

...and hands it over to Kelly Thorvalson. What a gorgeous sea turtle!

Atlantic Aviation staff helps offload the boxes of Kemp's ridley sea turtles.

A close up photo of the loggerhead that has been named "Taylor" after the pilot. The purple band on the left flipper helped to identify the turtle during its stay at the New England Aquarium's Animal Care Center where many loggerheads are being treated.

The turtles get loaded into the Aquarium's husbandry van to be transported to the Sea Turtle Hospital.

Sea Turtle Biologist Christi Hughes and intern Joni Vaughn help to move the animals into the hospital.

The numbers on the sea turtles are for identification purposes at the New England Aquarium. With so many sea turtles in the tanks, these numbers kept staff organized with patient medications, medical procedures and feeding. 

Weights and measurements were taken and the turtles received full physical examinations.

They were then put into their respective holding tanks.

The Post and Courier and AP media were there to document the admission.

A Kemp's ridley with a healing neck lesion.

A Kemp's ridley with loss of keratin on the front of its face.

A huge THANK YOU to Michael Taylor for his generous donation of time and flight to get these animals safely to Charleston to finish treatment. Also to the hundreds of volunteers and donors that are instrumental in the rescue, transport, rehabilitation, and ultimate release of these sea turtles. 

With 25 sea turtles currently in treatment at the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital, it is a great time to visit! Learn more about the behind-the-scenes tours and visit them online by visiting the hospital webpage. 

Warmest wishes,

Kelly Thorvalson

Hypothermic Sea Turtles Receive Private Flight to the South Carolina Aquarium

Private pilots in the Charleston area stepped up once again to help transfer endangered sea turtles in need of medical care. On December 5th, Gary Davis, pilot and owner of Davis Air, Inc. and pilot Neal McCann, transported 10 endangered sea turtles from Boston, MA to Charleston, SC to help lighten the load of the New England Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Program. The juvenile sea turtles, 8 Kemp's ridleys and 2 greens, were among over 150 that stranded along Cape Cod Bay in the largest cold stunning event in New England's history. This flight makes 3 times in the recent years that Charleston private pilots have helped transfer endangered sea turtles.

Gary Davis, Kelly Thorvalson, and Neal McCann in front of the Beechcraft King Air turboprop just before takeoff on Tuesday afternoon. 

At Norwood Airport just outside of Boston, MA, sea turtles were loaded onto the aircraft by New England Aquarium rescue staff Adam and Casey and South Carolina Aquarium staff Kelly Thorvalson. Pilots Gary and Neal packed the boxes safely into the plane.

In the air at approximately 21,000 feet, it was an extremely comfortable ride for the turtles. 

After the four hour flight from Boston to Charleston, the sea turtles were loaded into the Aquarium's husbandry van and transported to the Sea Turtle Hospital where they received physical examinations, blood work, radiographs, antibiotic injections, and fluid therapy to combat dehydration. Space is slim at the hospital and the turtles are small so they are sharing tanks. Dividers were installed to separate the solitary creatures so that when they start feeling feisty again, the biting that would normally occur is kept at bay.

Offloading the turtles for the transfer to the Aquarium.

Once at the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital, turtles were sorted by number and needs.

Physical examinations on all patients: Although fluids were administered pre-flight, the turtles were mildy dehydrated. Many are thin and have lesions on their plastrons. 

Medical diagnostics and treatments included blood work, x-rays, fluids, and antibiotic injections.

Four of the ten juvenile sea turtles in their new home away from home.

Because cold-stunning of sea turtles rarely occurs off the SC coast, the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Program serves as a back-up facility for those areas that become inundated with the hypothermic reptiles. So far, 36 patients have been admitted to the Aquarium's hospital this year, a new record for the program. Currently, 18 sea turtles are receiving care.

Patient profiles and names are pictured here. The turtles will eventually be posted to the main hospital page so be sure to check back to learn about specific ailments and treatments.

A big thank you to pilots Gary Davis and Neal McCann of Davis Air, Inc. for donating the flight to help these animals! We are extremely grateful for their generous donation. Also thanks to Dr. Jose Biascoechea for his assistance with admission of these turtles. Anyone that is interested in visiting the Sea Turtle Hospital to see the patients can reserve a space on one of the regularly scheduled behind-the-scenes tours M, W, F, Sat and Sun at 11:30am and 1pm by calling the Aquarium's reservation desk at 843-720-1990.

All our best to the New England Aquarium team for their tireless efforts to help the sea turtles stranding on their shores. Visit their Marine Animal Rescue blog to learn more.

Follow these media links to see more on the turtle transfer:
Post and Courier 
News 2
Also, keep up with all the latest news from the South Carolina Aquarium on Facebook!

Happy Holidays!
Kelly Thorvalson
Sea Turtle Rescue Program Manager