Sea turtles travel in style

Three sea turtles were recently transported from the University of New England Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center (MARC) to the South Carolina Aquarium; but it was no ordinary transport. Ronnie Santos, a local pilot and member of the East Cooper Pilot's Association, offered the sea turtles a ride in his private plane, a Piper Twin Comanche.

On Wednesday, November 5, 2009, Ronnie flew the 95-pound loggerhead and 2 small Kemp's ridley sea turtles from Biddeford, Maine to the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport in Charleston, SC. Although the transport containers barely fit into the aircraft, this unusual "Angel Flight" was successful in cutting many hours off of what would have been a 18-20 hour drive. The purpose of the transfer was to make room for more patients at MARC during the upcoming cold-stunning season. The cost of the transport was absorbed by Mr. Santos and other members of the East Cooper Pilot's Association.

History: The turtles being transferred were part of a cold stunning event on the coast of New England in November of 2008. Sea turtles are cold blooded and are unable to regulate their body temperatures. When coastal water temperatures drop quickly, sea turtles in the area become stunned and are unable to migrate to warmer waters.

The loggerhead, affectionately called "Santos," will finish rehabilitation at the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital and the 2 Kemp's ridleys were transferred to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island.

This was an amazing event and really showcases the joint efforts of organizations working together to support sea turtle conservation. I would like to send a sincere thank you to Mr. Ron Santos and the East Cooper Pilot's Association, the University of New England Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center and the SC Department of Natural Resources for their leadership in sea turtle conservation in SC.

Kelly Thorvalson

Little Pawley - the final hours

I posted about Pawley's death on the medical case log but did not post a new blog - I apologize for that. Many of you are still asking. Below are the words of our Veterinarian, Dr. Shane Boylan, when we lost Little Pawley. Details of the days leading up to the death are posted on the medical case log. This log has been moved to the released section because I was unsure where else to put it. This little turtle had a tremendous impact in the few weeks during his rescue and rehabilitation. We are all saddened by his death.

Kelly Thorvalson
10/16/09 Pawley suddenly, but not unexpectedly, “died” in his tank this morning. After a long 10-15 minutes of CPR, we were able to resuscitate him to biting and minor flipper movement. It wasn’t a full recovery, but it was significant. I decided to conduct a coelomotomy surgery to attempt to remove the impaction. Intestinal inflammation was severe but we were unable to locate and remove the impaction. After surgery and some recovery time at the Aquarium, I brought the turtle home with me until his heart finally passed at 6:30 PM.

10/17/09 Necropsy answered our questions. Among other finds, the inflammation in the gut was the most severe I have seen in a living reptile. The complete intestinal obstruction was inaccessible by surgery and showed evidence of being weeks old. The short story is that 50% of the small intestine was damaged beyond repair. The little guy never had a chance.

Big thank you to everyone involved (SCUTE), especially the surgery crew who hung with me for 3 hours on Tuesday afternoon and DNR for putting up with my long necropsy last Wednesday.

Dr. Shane Boylan

Little Pawley underwater video!

Many of you are awaiting news on Pawley's progress so I thought video may be the best way to show you just how well he/she is doing!

This is actually an underwater video taken today just after feeding (note the small fish particulate in the water) and Pawley is still looking around the tank for food. The turtle was extremely bouyant when he/she first arrived and over several days we were able to extract air from the body cavity, helping the turtle float a little less. At this point in time, the nature of the floating indicates that the rest of the air is intestinal. With a healthy diet and a little metamucil, we hope that these bouyancy issues will soon be resolved.

Overall, Pawley is doing very well. Thanks to all of you for checking back with us on the blog. Even better would be to visit in person...take a drive to the South Carolina Aquarium to visit Pawley and all of his turtle friends in the Sea Turtle Hospital! Tour information can be found on the main hospital webpage.

Kelly

Endangered sea turtle rescued by 9-year old in Pawley's Island

A call came in to the head of the SCUTE turtle team, Jeff McClary, on Sunday morning. A very small, live sea turtle was found washed up on Pawley’s Island but someone put it back into the water thinking that was the right thing to do. Knowing that if the turtle stranded on the beach it was sick or injured and once back in the water it may never be seen again, Jeff put out an all points bulletin to the SCUTE coordinators. The Schneider’s {Pawley’s and S. Litchfield} and Betsy Brabson {DeBordieu} sent out an email to the other Turtle Enthusiasts. In the late afternoon, the Graysons spotted something bobbing in the surf and Wilson Grayson, 9 years old, waded into the water to check it out. What he found was a very sick juvenile green sea turtle in need of medical attention. Jeff was notified, collected the turtle and headed South as Kelly Sloan of the SC Department of Natural Resources headed North to make the transfer in McClellanville. It was only a matter of time that the little green named Pawley after it’s stranding location, was admitted into the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital.

Here is Dr. Boylan’s description of the turtle on the night of its arrival:
The animal is mildly anemic, moderately hypoglycemic, severely hypoproteinemic, and severely bradycardic (very low heart rate). We tapped about 180 cc of gas from the coelom (body cavity). Radiographs were clear of any fishing hooks or detectable foreign bodies. The animal reacted with pain responses to injections which correlates with a presumptive diagnosis of gas productive coelomic sepsis. An old puncture wound was found at the marginal scutes. The nearby inframarginal scutes showed some signs of internal pathology by palpation and examination. This is the likely source of the infection (puncture wound). Antibiotics, vitamins, x-rays, fluids with dextrose, ultrasounds, and in house bloodwork were conducted tonight. The prognosis is guarded given sepsis is very likely and acute in onset. The body condition and hydration status were relatively normal.

With each passing day, the chances of survival for little Pawley are better. It is now 4 days into treatment and Pawley is active and even ate a little fish on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition to continuing supportive care including fluids, vitamins and antibiotics, hospital staff is regularly bleeding coelomic air that is being produced by the internal bacterial infection. Be sure to check back to the hospital page to get regular updates on Pawley as well as the other patients in our care!

Thank you to everyone involved with this animal’s rescue, especially to Wilson Grayson and his family. Green sea turtles are listed as federally endangered under the Endangered Species Act and need our help. And remember, if you find a sick or injured sea turtle, contact the local police department or call the SC Department of Natural Resources hotline at 1-800-922-5431.

Kelly

New patient admitted into Sea Turtle Hospital

A call came in on Monday, August 24th from Arturo with the SC Department of Natural Resources - he was on his way to pick up a stranded turtle from North Myrtle Beach, SC. The estimated time of arrival was 7pm. It would be another late night at the Aquarium...

The turtle that stranded was an 80-pound loggerhead (still a juvenile) whose shell was covered in barnacles and hundreds of tube worms whose homes made of mud, were caked inches thick on the shell. Unlike most debilitated sea turtles that arrive at our facility, this one was actually moving around quite a bit. In addition to checking overall body condition and respirations, blood was taken for an in-house snapshot of the animal's health and to ship off for complete blood counts and chemistries. That in house blood analysis told us that "Scute", the new loggerhead, is very anemic and has a very low blood protein. The good news is that it actually has a decent blood glucose level which is why the turtle was more active than most in this state.

You can see the degree of emaciation by the outline of bones and tendons in the neck area. The "sore" on top of the skull is from a rope that was entangled around the turtle's neck when it was found in the surf. This entanglement may be the root cause of the turtles poor condition. Supportive care was given to include fluid therapy with Vitamin B, an iron injection to combat anemia, IV hetastarch fluids to help the protein levels in the blood, and of course, antibiotic injections. Since it was 10:30pm when we finished treatment and we could not monitor the turtle overnight, Dr. Boylan and I decided to leave her in a very shallow pool of freshwater. This would allow her to breathe without having to swim to the surface.

Although Scute is extremely sick, we are hopeful that she will improve with continued supportive care. Keep up with Scute's progress (as well as the other patients in the Sea Turtle Hospital) on the main hospital webpage.

Thank you to all involved in the rescue of Scute and for Arturo from SCDNR for the long hours on the road to get her safely to our hospital. It takes all of us to save the lives of these animals!

P.S. For those of you who aren't aware of our naming system, we name the patients after where they strand whether it is a beach or waterway. Currently we are treating a Myrtle and a North Myrtle. To avoid giving the same names to turtles, we look for other names that have something to do with the area in which the turtle strands. SCUTE stands for South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts and is comprised of sea turtle volunteers from Georgetown to North Myrtle Beach. This stranding got the name Scute so we wouldn't have to name it North Myrtle Jr as well as to honor all of the SCUTE volunteers that support sea turtle conservation and the Sea Turtle Rescue Program.

Kelly

"Carolina's Story" inspires 4-year old Ava to help sea turtles

I recently received a wonderful letter in the mail and was so moved by it, I had to post for everyone. Click on the letter below to meet 4-year old Ava from California:

Carolina's Story, the children's book written about in the letter, is a wonderful story about a sick loggerhead sea turtle named Carolina that received medical care and TLC right here in the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital. This book has made it to thousands of classrooms and homes and inspired many, including Ava all the way from California! On behalf of the South Carolina Aquarium and the Sea Turtle Rescue Program, I would like to thank Ava for the great job on the educational posters and the successful garage sale. I feel sure that you will get to help a leatherback hatchling to the ocean one day!

And to all the other children that donate the the Sea Turtle Rescue Program through birthdays, bake sales, lemonade stands or by doing extra chores, I will try to get your stories up as they come in. You all are TRULY INSPIRING!

To find out more about Carolina's Story go to http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/Carolina.php.

Kelly

3 rescued sea turtles return to the ocean!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to release 3 rehabilitated sea turtles! A crowd of 800 to 1000 people gathered on Kiawah Island Sunday to witness these majestic animals crawl into the warm, salty waters that is their home.

One of the most exciting stories of the day was that 7-year old Ethan Harrison and his mother Shelley, of Caledonia, Ontario in Canada, traveled down to be a part of it. After raising almost $2500 over 3 years for the sick and injured sea turtles in the Sea Turtle Rescue Program, Ethan gave his favorite healed patient, Wadmalaw, one final helping hand - he carried him home. It was somewhat emotional for all of us but particularly for the Harrisons.

Thank you to all involved in the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these sea turtles, including Ethan. There are too many others to name here but we could not do what we do without ALL OF YOU!

I would like to send a special thank you to Kiawah's ResortQuest for the wonderful villa that was given to the Harrisons during their trip to Charleston and to the employees of ResortQuest for raising money for Ethan and donating to the Sea Turtle Rescue Program in Ethan's name. This was a REALLY nice touch to a special weekend.

Kelly Thorvalson