Sea Turtle Beach Release Saturday, August 28th at Folly Beach County Park!

In partnership with the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission and the SC Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), the South Carolina Aquarium will release 2 rehabilitated sea turtles at the Folly Beach County Park on Saturday, August 28 at 4pm. County Park parking fees apply.

The 100-pound loggerhead, Santos, was cold-stunned off the New England coast in the winter of ‘08 and treated for a year at the Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center at the University of New England. In November of ‘09, the turtle was transported to the South Carolina Aquarium to finish healing, catching a ride in a small Piper Twin Comanche with private pilot, Ronnie Santos from Mount Pleasant, SC. We are grateful for Ronnie and the East Cooper Pilot’s Association for this wonderful support!

The juvenile Kemp’s ridley, Surfer, was caught on hook and line just 4 months ago by a surf fisherman on Hilton Head, SC. Kemp’s ridleys are commonly found in near shore waters in the summertime and are prone to getting caught by recreational fishermen. Surfer underwent surgery to remove the hook that was deeply embedded in the esophagus. A hook that is left in the esophagus of a turtle in the wild can be problematic, possibly resulting in death and we congratulate all fishermen who turn these “hooked” endangered species over to the SCDNR.
Sea turtle releases often draw large crowds so it is strongly advised that if you are attending, plan for heavy traffic onto Folly Beach and especially out to the County Park. Carpool if possible, as parking may be limited. We look forward to seeing you there!

Kelly

Kids put their money where their hearts are...

I am consistently amazed by the generosity of many young people that give so willingly and selflessly to organizations like the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Rescue Program. Three wonderful donations from kids have come in over the last couple of months and I would like to share their stories with you:

6-year old Emmett lives in Orlando, Florida and on a trip to visit his uncle in Charleston during the winter holidays, the family toured the South Carolina Aquarium and Sea Turtle Hospital. Emmett especially enjoyed meeting the sea turtle patients and went home with ideas on how he could help them. Emmett made and sold bracelets and was able to raise $125! I am told that Emmett has more fundraising planned for the hospital and we are grateful for his commitment to sea turtle conservation!

13-year old Mackenzie from Gahanna, Ohio visited the Sea Turtle Hospital last summer and was fortunate to see the release of 3 sea turtles during her trip. It was after this visit that she made it her mission to help the sick and injured sea turtles in our care. Mackenzie recently returned to Charleston in celebration of her 13th birthday and donated $700 that she raised for the Sea Turtle Rescue Program in lieu of receiving gifts. Happy 13th Birthday, Mackenzie!

Ethan Harrison from Ontario, Canada has been raising funds for the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rescue Program since he was 4-years old. From thousands of miles away, Ethan has supported the sea turtles for half of his life! Now 8, Ethan recently visited Charleston to deliver his latest and largest donation of $2000 bringing Ethan’s total donation to about $5000 in 4 years! It has been wonderful to watch Ethan grow and one thing never changes, his passion for helping sea turtles!

These kids are making a difference in the world. Their donations help to rehabilitate sick and injured sea turtles, giving them another chance at life. But much bigger is the impact these kids have on the people they come into contact with during their fundraising efforts. Every birthday party attendee or person adorned with a bracelet to save the sea turtles, every individual shopping at the garage sale or the station attendant giving money for bottle deposits that help save sea turtles, every friend, teacher, aunt or uncle who hears and learns from these children – these kids are educating, advocating and making a much bigger difference in sea turtle conservation than we all know!

Thank you Emmett, Mackenzie, Ethan and all the kids who are making a difference in the world!

Stranded loggerhead from Hilton Head admitted into Sea Turtle Hospital

The SC Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) arrived yesterday afternoon with a loggerhead sea turtle that washed up on Hilton Head's front beach. In order to keep the turtle from overheating in the back of the covered SCDNR truck on the drive to Charleston, the young loggerhead was placed in a kiddie pool with shallow water and covered in wet towels. Ice was packed around the pool to keep the temperature cool in this southern July heat.

The turtle's carapace (shell) was 90% covered with marine growth including barnacles, mussels, tube worms, skeleton shrimp and slipper shells. Marine leeches were also present on the soft tissue. Outside of this marine growth and the obvious lethargy, the patient's external condition is actually fair, unlike most of the animals we admit into our hospital.

Normal admission procedures were performed to find out more about the turtle's condition which would help determine the treatment plan. These procedures included taking measurements, scanning for tags, drawing blood, measuring heart rate and conducting a thorough physical examination. Initial treatment included fluid therapy, antibiotics, vitamin injections and a shallow tank of fresh water to kill the marine growth and help keep the turtle hydrated overnight.

A huge thanks goes to the Hilton Head folks that found this turtle as they walked searching for sea turtle nests on the beach. Also to Jenna Cormany from SCDNR for the hours on the road to get this animal treatment. As always, we owe a tremendous amount of thanks to our incredible volunteer crew and interns at the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital.

This turtle will be posted on the main hospital page with more details of condition, treatment and photographs. Please check back for regular updates!

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

Kemp's ridley survives boat strike

For the third Saturday night in a row, the call came in from the SC Department of Natural Resources that a live sea turtle had been found. A young Kemp's ridley with a boat strike was pulled from the May River in Bluffton, SC on June 6th. It was almost 11:30pm when DNR arrived with the injured turtle where the Sea Turtle Hospital Team was ready for action.

Blood was taken to get hematocrit and protein levels which would tell us how much blood the animal had lost. Although the numbers were somewhat low, we could tell that the turtle had not lost a tremendous amount. The fracture is right over the lung and each time the animal took a breath, the tissue moved up and down. Although this a traumatic injury, it didn't appear as though lung tissue had actually been penetrated. The wound received copious amounts of flushing with saline and fluids were also given subcutaneously (pictured below with intern Liz Mills administering fluids).

An antibiotic injection was given to prevent infection. The cleaned wound was then packed with silver sulfadiazine, an ointment containing antibacterial and antifungal agents. A wrap was placed over the wound and the turtle placed in shallow salt water.

Thanks to all involved in the rescue of this turtle! You can get more information about this turtle on the main hospital page.
Kelly T

Sea turtle stranding update and "Gala"

The South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Program admits sick and injured sea turtles in need of rehabilitation with the goal of releasing them back into the ocean once deemed healthy. Since the program's inception, 51 sea turtles have been treated and released - a great number indeed!

The darker side of this story is that although we are making a big difference in the lives of sea turtles that overcome horrible injuries and illnesses, many more wash up on our beaches dead or are too sick to save. The numbers are grim: according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, over the last 10 years, the average number of sea turtle standings on South Carolina beaches each year is 133. Already this year, 53 sea turtles have stranded. Of these, roughly 10% are alive and transported to the Sea Turtle Hospital. But even with the tireless efforts of the Aquarium’s turtle rescue staff, not all of them survive.

We experienced this with a recent patient. After 10 days of intensive medical treatment for severe anemia, hypoglycemia, internal parasitic and bacterial infections and much more, the debilitated loggerhead "Gala" that was rescued from Surfside Beach, passed. It is truly amazing that this turtle survived as long as s/he did but this certainly doesn't make the death any easier. A huge thank you goes out to all folks involved in the rescue and treatment of this animal as well as the support for our team.

With sea turtle season in full swing, I urge you all to remember and remind your friends to step lightly in the natural habitat of sea turtles:

• Leave the beaches dark, clean and free of holes for the nesting loggerheads and the thousands of hatchlings that will start emerging from their nests in July.
• Boat strikes are really taking a toll on all four species that occur off our coast – loggerheads, Kemp’s ridleys, greens and leatherbacks. If you are boating, please remember that sea turtles are in the waters all around you, inshore and offshore.
• REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE! The amount of trash that ends up in our waterways and ocean is horrifying and really brings to light the disposable culture in which we live. We all need to go the extra mile to create less trash in our daily lives. You can find some great ideas at http://www.reusablebags.com/store/.
• Do not disturb nesting sea turtles or emerging hatchlings and if you find a sick or injured sea turtle (or hook one on your fishing line), call the SCDNR hotline at 1-800-922-5431.
• Support our efforts to save sick and injured sea turtles by becoming a stranded turtle adoptive parent, donating on line or visiting the Sea Turtle Hospital in person. More information can be found at http://www.scaquarium.org/.

Thank you for caring about sea turtles!
Kelly Thorvalson

Newest sea turtle patients, "18th Green" and "Gala"

Let me introduce two new patients that have been keeping us very busy in the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital.

"18th Green," pictured just below, is a juvenile green sea turtle that washed up on the beach April 26th in front of the Ocean Course 18th green on Kiawah Island. "18th Green" weighs 8 1/2 kg (almost 20 pounds) and was covered with algae, barnacles and skeleton shrimp upon arrival. Although "18th Green" was alert and fairly active, s/he was very dehydrated. After giving initial treatments, the turtle was placed in a shallow tank of fresh water to help with hydration and kill the external marine growth. "18th Green" is floating with a buoyant posterior (rear) end and is suffering from intestinal impaction.

"Gala," pictured below, is the newest loggerhead patient from Surfside Beach, SC that had a very timely arrival. The South Carolina Aquarium's Environmental Stewardship Awards Gala, a wonderful black tie event, was held Saturday night and awards were given to individuals that are making significant contributions to environmental preservation. Well, wouldn't you know it - a sea turtle stranding arrived about 7am, just as the reception was getting under way. Duty calls, so I skipped the reception and part of dinner to help admit the incredibly ill loggerhead.

In addition to leeches around the mouth and nares (can see in close profile photo), this emaciated, severely anemic loggerhead is covered in barnacles and algae indicating that the turtle has been lethargic in the ocean for quite some time.

Both "18th Green" and "Gala" are still not 'out of the woods' and we are giving medical treatments every morning and afternoon to give them the best chance of survival. You can find out about more about their specific illnesses, treatments and progress, as well as see additional photographs on the main hospital page.

A huge thank you goes out to all the folks that helped to rescue these animals on the beach, Jeff McClary for driving "Gala" part of the way to Charleston, Charlotte Hope and Kelly Sloan from SCDNR who transported the turtles to the hospital and to all of the hospital staff, volunteers and interns that work together to make the magic happen here. It takes an army!

Kelly T