Barrington survives brain surgery

Although Barrington is still in the early stages of recovery, watching him navigate around his tank of shallow water gives us hope that the brain surgery he underwent last Thursday was successful. During his first month in our hospital, Barrington’s body quickly recovered from the severe keratin loss on his soft tissues and head. However, his demeanor was poor and he began exhibiting worsening neurological symptoms indicative of brain trauma. Barrington typically floated motionless in his tank, reacted very painfully during treatments, exhibited odd motor skills (his body tensed up completely when he was handled and he wouldn’t use his front flippers to swim), and began twisting his head up and to the left when agitated.

Thanks to Dr. Jason King and his accommodating staff at the Charleston Veterinary Referral Clinic, Barrington received a CT scan and an MRI on July 12th. The CT scan was instrumental in identifying the likely cause of Barrington’s neurological symptoms: a large bone fragment had been shoved downward toward the brain from blunt force trauma to the top of the skull. Although brain surgery had never been performed on a sea turtle at our facility, removing the bone fragment was necessary to save Barrington’s life.

On July 14th our veterinarian, Dr. Shane Boylan, was joined by Dr.’s Nora Schmidt and Cheri Ristau (pictured below) who volunteered their time to assist with Barrington’s experimental surgery. A newly donated Stryker saw, a crucial tool for precision bone cutting, was used to remove a triangular portion of the top of the skull, and the bone fragment was extracted intact. However, we began to worry when Barrington failed to start breathing on his own and his heart rate remained depressed more than twelve hours after surgery. Recovery efforts by STH staff and interns continued until after 3:00 A.M. the next morning.
Today, Barrington has regained some use of his front flippers and is behaving more and more like a normal loggerhead. His muscles no longer remain contracted when we handle him, and he tolerates antibiotic injections well. Although he still twists his head up and to the left on occasion, his neurological symptoms are less severe than they were before the surgery. This resilient loggerhead still has a long way to go before we even begin considering releasing him back into the wild, but we are willing to be patient and let his recovery occur at a turtle’s pace (as it should). Come visit Barrington in our hospital and wish him well as he continues to heal from brain surgery.

Christi Hughes, Sea Turtle Biologist

Sea turtles being released on Tuesday, July 12!

The public is invited to join the South Carolina Aquarium for some summer fun at the beach to watch the release of 3 threatened and endangered sea turtles! The release will be held at 11am on Tuesday, July 12 at Beachwalker County Park on Kiawah Island, SC. Come out to see juvenile loggerheads, Grice and Lisa, and an extremely rare adult female Kemp's ridley, Bennett, get released back into the ocean after recovering from various ailments in the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital. County Park parking fees apply and parking is limited so we strongly encourage carpooling.

A little information about each turtle is below but you can find out more about the program and the sea turtles being released by visiting the Sea Turtle Hospital webpage at http://www.scaquarium.org/STR/hospital/default.aspx.
Grice, a 66-pound juvenile loggerhead, arrived at the Sea Turtle Hospital with rotting skin ulcerations and leeches all over the soft tissue. She has recovered from her skin issues and anemia extremely quickly.

Lisa, a 68-pound juvenile loggerhead, was caught on board the SCDNR research vessel, RV Lady Lisa, with most of her soft tissue void of the protective keratin layer. She was admitted into the Sea Turtle Hospital primarily because of concern that this was the early stages of the skin ulcerative disease that we have seen so much of this year.

Bennett, the 76-pound adult female Kemp's ridley caught on the RV Lady Lisa, had an unfortunate encounter with a stingray barb that punctured deeply in the soft tissue by the rear flipper. Other than the puncture wound, this turtle was extremely healthy which allowed her to recover in just a month!

We hope all of you will join us to say goodbye to these amazing creatures! Huge thanks to all those that were part of the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these animals, including the SC Department of Natural Resources and Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission. You all are amazing!

Kelly

Santee and Eugenia will be released this Friday!

In partnership with the SC Department of Natural Resources and Charleston County Parks and Recreation, Santee, the 160-pound loggerhead that was rescued in September 2010 will be released this Friday, June 17th at 4pm at the Isle of Palms County Park.

Santee was rescued by Captain Chad Ferris of Tall Tails Charters. Check out the awesome rescue story with photographs at http://seaturtlehospital.blogspot.com/2010/09/.

Santee's primary medical issue was a gastrointestinal tract impaction but as a result of this impaction, she was suffering from severe edema, low blood protein and was positively buoyant (floating). After 1 1/2 months of treatment, Santee was finally able to pass the impaction and start the healing process. After a little over 8 months of treatment, she is ready to return to the ocean.

Comparison photos of Santee:

Eugenia, the juvenile green sea turtle rescued on Kiawah Island April 28th, 2011, will also be released on Friday. Upon admission, this turtle was very lethargic and in overall poor condition.

Read about Eugenia's admission and how she got her name at
http://seaturtlehospital.blogspot.com/2011/05/sea-turtle-rescue-program-is-off-to.html.

We are thrilled that Eugenia has made a quick recovery in just under 2 months - she was just medically cleared for release today. Just look at the difference that two months of medical treatment and the best animal care can do!!

Bloodwork is pending on the small Kemp's ridley, Taylor, that was caught by a fisherman on the Edwin S. Taylor pier on Folly Beach April 18th. If the bloodwork passes, Taylor will be included in this release, as well!

The public is invited to join us to send these beautiful, healthy sea turtles back into the ocean. Just remember: come early because parking is limited and traffic will be heavy, and County Park parking fees apply.

Hope to see you there!

- Kelly Thorvalson

Sea turtle release this Friday, June 3rd at 3pm

In partnership with the SC Department of Natural Resources and Charleston County Parks and Recreation, the South Carolina Aquarium will be releasing nine sea turtles back into the ocean on Friday, June 3rd at 3pm. The public is invited to come out to watch eight juvenile green sea turtles and one 200-pound loggerhead be returned to the ocean at Beachwalker County Park on Kiawah Island, SC. Parking space is limited and parking fees apply so we strongly encourage folks to come out to the beach early and to carpool!

Eight of the nine sea turtles being released are green sea turtles that were admitted in December 2010: Charms, Lewbart, Fisher, Cape Lookout, Sandy, Banks and Carteret from NC and Frosty from Hilton, Head, SC. The turtles were cold-stunned, an illness that affects sea turtles when a sudden drop in air temperatures causes coastal water temperatures to drop. This causes sea turtles to get hypothermia and it inhibits their ability to migrate into warm waters. Frosty actually suffered from frostbite and lost the tips of the front flippers. Below are a few photos from the admission of the cold-stunned greens and a more recent picture of several getting sunshine.

The loggerhead, Dawsey, was rescued after stranding on a sandbar at Caper's Inlet. 2 families were instrumental in staying with the wounded turtle until help could arrive. Sarah Dawsey and her crew from the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge got to the turtle just in time as the tide was rising. Dawsey's massive flipper wounds took several months to heal and she has been receiving physical therapy to increase the range of motion where scar tissue is abundant. She has been medically cleared and will make her return to the ocean on Friday! The photo below depicts what we often see Dawsey doing in her tank...looking out of her window at all the happenings in the hospital. Thanks for being such a great patient, Dawsey!

Huge thanks to everyone involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of these animals - there are so many I can't possibly name you all. Hope to see you Friday!

Kelly

Jammer is one tough turtle

Jammer, the severely debilitated loggerhead sea turtle from the Isle of Palms, SC, has surprised Sea Turtle Rescue Program staff and volunteers. This animal is one of the most emaciated sea turtles in the history of the program and is still with us a month after being admitted. "Her" carapace is soft around the margins with ribs showing. We have seen soft shells but never distinctive ribs. But even after a month, this turtle isn't out of the woods yet. One of our greatest medical concerns is that the gastrointestinal tract isn't functioning properly. Basically, we just want to see the animal poop.

The good news is that she is starting to behave like a sea turtle that is feeling better and it gives us even more hope that she will survive. The tight circling that she has exhibited for the last 4 weeks is slowing, she is starting so use her pipe to sleep in like all the other patients, and last night when we were admitting 3 new patients, she was actually watching us out of the window in her tank. This behavior is a wonderful change from the turtle that could barely lift her head out of water to take a breath. Below are some photos of her progress.

First, a quick reminder of what Jammer looked like when she arrived:

Below is Jammer 2 weeks after arrival being taken for x-rays:

Jammer swimming in her tank:

And for all of you that have seen the turtles using their pipes for sleeping, this is sure to make you feel good!

Jammer's prognosis is still guarded but there is certainly improvement since she arrived. We are posting periodic updates on her medical case log (on the main hospital webpage) so be sure to check back!

We have been incredibly busy admitting 5 sea turtles in the last 6 days and have fallen behind getting them on the blog. Stay tuned for a post to introduce you to all the newest patients!

Kelly

Loggerhead admitted Friday evening

The loggerhead captured in waters off of Fort Johnson in James Island, SC, eluded it's rescuers for over 24 hours. It was first seen on Thursday, May 12 with a fishing line and bobber entangled around it's flipper and finally captured late Friday afternoon. The rescue, a team effort by staff from SC Department of Natural Resources and College of Charleston Grice Marine Laboratory, came after many in-water rescue attempts.

Once captured, the sea turtle was transported to the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Program for medical treatment. Suffering from SCUD (septicemic cutaneous ulcerative disease), the turtle presented with many necrotic skin ulcers. There were also hundreds (perhaps thousands) of marine leeches and leech eggs on the soft tissue, as seen in the photos below. Fortunately, "Grice" was quite active upon arrival and staff is hopeful that this turtle was rescued in time.

Huge thanks to all the folks out at Fort Johnson involved in the rescue of this animal! Also, many thanks to Christi Hughes, Ann Estes, intern Meghan Walsh, and Dr. Jose Biascoechea of Birds and Exotics Veterinary Clinic for the Friday night turtle ER! You guys are amazing!
Kelly Thorvalson

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