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

"Pirate" makes great progress feeding on his own

Two months ago, "Pirate" was just beginning to open his mouth a few centimeters and starting to feed on his own after being tube fed for 7 months. In fact, the video blog post on March 15th shows "Pirate" taking 2 minutes to eat just 1 small piece of fish. In the newest video below, "Pirate" is able to consume almost a pound of cut fish in 2 minutes!



Once "Pirate" started showing good progress with eating fish, we decided to try live blue crabs, a natural prey item for loggerheads in the wild and an important form of enrichment for the patients in our hospital. In the next video, you can see that "Pirate" wastes no time going after the crab but it takes several attempts to actually get the whole crab into his mouth. Regardless, the end result is that the crab gets consumed.



Range of motion in "Pirate's" jaw is still only a fraction of what it should be but we are on the road to recovery!

Kelly T

7 sea turtles being released!

In just three days, 3 loggerhead sea turtles and 4 green sea turtles will be released back into the ocean! This will be the largest release in the program’s history and will take us to over 50 sea turtles that have been rehabilitated and released by the South Carolina Aquarium. The release will take place on the first official day of nesting season in South Carolina, Saturday, May 1st and begin at 3:30pm at the Isle of Palms County Park. The IOP County Park opens at 10am. Space for parking is limited and parking fees apply. Carpooling is strongly advised and be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get through heavy traffic.

You can visit the Beasley, Ocracoke, Scute, Dare, Cluse, Frisco and Mingo in the hospital before the release by taking one of the tours on Friday or Saturday. More information on tours and the turtles can be found on the website and reservations can be made at 843-577-FISH (3474) or toll free at (800) 722-6455.

We hope that you will be able to join us!
Kelly

1st live SC stranding admitted into Sea Turtle Hospital

Juvenile Kemp's ridleys are famous for taking bait of recreational hook and line fishermen and swallowing the hooks. These hooks can be detrimental to the lives of these animals and we encourage fishermen to turn the turtle over to SCDNR if they are unable to remove the hook safely.

This is just the case with the first live stranding in South Carolina. A 5-pound Kemp's ridley was caught in the surf on Hilton Head, SC and was transported by SCDNR officials Sunday night. The small turtle named "Surfer" is somewhat lethargic and thin. These signs in addition to skin lesions across the neck and shoulders indicate the turtle may have been suffering from an infection prior to getting hooked.

Radiographs were performed Monday morning to see the type and depth of the hook in the esophagus and hook removal surgery soon followed with the turtle under full anesthesia. Surgery took approximately 50 minutes with Dr. Boylan at the helm. Hospital staff had to breathe for the animal for hours as he recovered from surgery and eventually Dr. Boylan took the turtle home with him to continue that breathing. Prognosis is guarded. Much more detail of the surgery and treatment can be found on the "Surfer's" individual case log on the Sea Turtle Hospital page.

Thanks all involved in the rescue of this endangered Kemp's ridley. We are doing everything possible to aid in it's recovery!

Kelly T