Gov. Scott Releases Mended Sea Turtle Off Keys « CBS Miami.
S.A.S. upon arrival at The Turtle Hospital. Note the massive FP tumor on the rear flipper.
Florida Governor Rick Scott recently made a trip to the Keys where he stopped at The Turtle Hospital. During his visit, the governor helped release S.A.S., a sea turtle that was found entangled in a lobster trap line, covered in fibropapilloma tumors. Click the link above for more on S.A.S.’s release as told by CBS Miami news.
Recovering in a hospital tank can be quite boring for a sea turtle that would normally have all kinds of stimulation from their natural enviornment. Ocean currents, waves, fish, other animals, coral reefs, sea grass, seaweed, and rocks all exist in a sea turtle’s natural environment. A sea turtle’s shell has a lot of sensation and they will often use rock ledges to scratch their “backs.” They also find areas within the rocks where they can rest and may even tuck their heads underneath the rock ledges when it’s time to take a break. We cannot mimic their natural environment exactly, but we can provide enrichment to an otherwise not so exciting bare tank. One way to do this is by building “turtle toys” out of PVC pipes. We can construct cubes and triangles for the turtles to scratch up against, lean on, and even swim around. It is also quite entertaining for the rehabilitation staff when we see them using the enrichment we provide for them. In the photo above you can see Scooter, our past education turtle–a juvenile loggerhead, enjoying his new toy! Below is Izzy, a boat strike survivor and back scratch enthusiast.
Green sea turtles Mickey and Sekoi and our one resident Kemp’s Ridley, Bender, gained some weight in the past weeks, but not from overeating! Turtle Hospital staff went through the timely trial-and-error process to determine how much weight was needed to offset the residual buoyancy issues in these turtles caused by boat strikes. Air often gets trapped under a sea turtle’s shell upon impact of a blunt force, and, unfortunately, this air results in the turtle floating permanently. Deemed non-releaseable, the Turtle Hospital has developed a weight system that allows these turtles to dive down during their lives in captivity. While Mickey, Sekoi and Bender were ready to have weights glued directly to their shells, some turtles are fitted with a temporary weight belt during the shell healing process while we wait for the keratin to strengthen (see below the recent post on O.D.).
Floating under Saddle Bunch #5 Historic Bridge, our newest turtle arrived in good spirits despite being emaciated. This subadult loggerhead’s rescue required a team effort between FWC staff member Sue Schaft and Turtle Hospital rehabber Gunnar. Using a kayak to traverse a series of deep water channels, the two successfully pulled the turtle to safety. To increase glucose levels, Saddle received Dextrose once he was unloaded into our Emergency Room. Saddle also received a freshwater bath which helped alleviate the attachment of a record amount of barnacles to the carapace. All X-rays look good, so we hope that some TLC will speedily get this turtle’s blood chemistry to normal levels.
Saddle came in with such high epibiont coverage, barnacles were even inside the mouth!
We would like to thank both Monica Woll and Scott Parker for calling in the stranding, and thank you to the Overseas Heritage Trail rangers who kept an eye on the turtle until help arrived. The Turtle Hospital rehab staff have taken quite a liking to Saddle’s antics which include attempts to bite any and everything nearby his mouth.
Our two loggerhead post-hatchlings, Finn and Fisher, are living large these days. Both turtles have moved just around the bend from the shallow hatchling tanks to deeper circular tanks. While the first few months of the life of a sea turtle are spent “going with the flow”–literally–they autonomously learn to dive down later in their first year. In an effort to encourage this instinctual survival behavior, we are providing these turtles with enough water depth to practice diving. Eight-month old Fisher is eating off the bottom in 3 feet of water! As for our “one flipper wonder,” a hearty appetite rules Finn’s practice routines. The turtle swims hard to make sure no food goes uneaten.
Fisher (right) and Finn (left) are now neighbors in deeper tanks. (Finn seems to have tucked the one wondrous flipper under her shell for the photo shoot.)
Four-year permanent resident O.D. is packing on the pounds this week with a newly fitted temporary weight belt. Rehab staff member–and quite the engineer–Gunnar created the contraption out of SCUBA weight belts. With 7.5 pounds extra weight, O.D. can once again swim gracefully through the water. The 330-lb adult green previously had weights attached directly to his shell but because sea turtles shed their scutes, those weights eventually fell off. The shell often becomes slightly soft and vulnerable in the region where these weights were once attached. Allowing for the shell to strengthen before once more affixing weights directly, O.D. will sport this harness for a few weeks.
O.D. ‘s story is unique. The turtle stranded in North Carolina in 2007 with a left lung infection, was released, and re-stranded a year later here in the Florida Keys. The lung issue is unfortunately a permanent ailment and left O.D. with buoyancy issues on the left side. He cannot properly dive down without the addition of weights to offset the buoyancy and so is non-releasable. We have been actively searching for a new home for O.D. (short for “Ocean Dive”) in a zoo or aquarium. While we would miss him here at The Turtle Hospital, this big guy is ready to be the star in his own turtle tank somewhere.
Little green Hess has been through a lot–three blood transfusions, tube feeding and a lengthy car ride transfer from Sea World to The Turtle Hospital. After one month here, and 5 months total in rehab, Hess was released on April 18. FWC staff member Sue Schaft provided transport for the now-healthy sea turtle to the East Coast, where Hess originally stranded. Our freckled friend sure was glad to get out of rehab and back into the sea! Let’s hope we don’t see her again!
Photo by B. Heitman
At just over 70 lbs, juvenile loggerhead “Doc” checked in for rehab on April 20. Doc was found floating off Sombrero Beach by part-time Marathoners and Wisconsin natives Tim & Barb Heitman and Becky Galvan. Mr. Heitman practices medicine, which inspired Doc’s name. Having participated in one of our education programs a few weeks prior, the trio could tell this turtle was in distress, and they knew just who to call! Needing a boat for pick-up, Florida National Marine Sanctuary and FWC provided Doc’s transportation, performing the at-sea rescue. Upon arrival at our little marina, Doc was taken into the Emergency Room for a full body examination, including X-rays. In addition to being unable to dive, the turtle has abscesses under the throat region as well as a tear in the lower jaw, presumably from a fish hook being ripped out. The turtle is also experiencing “lock jaw” and will likely undergo physical therapy to get the mouth muscles working again. A special thanks goes out to Doc’s rescuers! Now we can be sure that this sea turtle gets all the medical attention needed for a quick and full recovery!
On Wednesday, 18 April, five sea turtles lined up in The Turtle Hospital’s designated “waiting area.” All of these juvenile greens have external fibropapilloma tumors and were preparing for individual endoscopies to check for internal tumors. Dr. Kristin from Marathon Veterinary Hospital led the examinations. An endoscopy is also one way to find out the sex of an immature sea turtle. We found out that all of these sea turtles are actually females, despite some masculine names. But that’s okay–our patients don’t seem to care. We were relieved to find that only 1 of the turtles had internal fibropapilloma tumors. Next week, the veterinarians will be in again, this time to fully anaesthetize the turtles for laser surgery to remove the external tumors.
The Endoscopy Queue–Or, A Long Line of Females. Pictured front to back are: Eddie, Reginald, Tini, Mallory and Ernie.
Another green sea turtle with fibropapilloma tumors arrived at The Turtle Hospital on April 11th. Eddie was rescued in Sandy Key, found floating and covered in tumors and leeches. After a freshwater soak to get all the leeches and eggs off, Eddie was put into a tank with shallow water. He is still floating some, but hopefully Eddie will get an endoscopy soon to let us know what is causing the buoyancy!
Itty bitty washback post-hatchling, Finn, was found floating in a bed of seagrass on April 11th–with only one fully functional flipper! This loggerhead is probably a couple months younger than our education turtle, Fisher. The two are now tank neighbors! Only Finn’s front left flipper is fully intact; the front right flipper is a nub down to the elbow. Both back flippers also show signs of a predator attack with 50% of each flipper missing. Finn also came in with some small puncture wounds on the plastron and carapace. But a turtle that came to us nearly flipper-less but still alive is a rarity! Finn is one example of the resilience and adaptability of sea turtles, perhaps why they’ve managed to survive since the prehistoric era.
On March 30th, Diver Dave and Rob Zombie were out trying to catch a few more lobster before the season ended; they noticed a young green sea turtle covered in fibropapilloma tumors. Being from the Keys, they knew the turtle needed help. They grabbed the little green and got him on the boat. After calling the Turtle Hospital to file a report, they began making there way to Hawks Cay Marina, where they met up with The Turtle Hospital staff. An intake medical examination showed Ernie to be blind in one eye due to FP tumors and having 75% vision in the other eye. He is currently gaining an appetite–and avoiding shrimp at all costs–while awaiting surgery!
Weighing 176-lb at the time of his release, loggerhead Rocky D rounded out the last of 4 loggerheads to be released in the month of March. The turtle bee-lined it toward the open ocean on March 31st, the day of his release. Rocky D arrived at The Turtle Hospital with an impaction of small shells, an alternate food source he feasted on due to overfishing of the typical lobster/crab meal. In two-and-a-half months, the impaction and subsequent gas were gone, and Rocky D was released at Anne’s Beach in Islamorada among a crowd of well-wishers.
Colorado is a 161-pound loggerhead that was admitted to the hospital on March 25th with four boat propeller strikes toward the rear of his shell. He was found floating just north of Cudjoe Key by Mark and Charlotte Sampson while they were fly fishing from their boat. Upon arriving at the Hospital, it was pretty clear to staff that he was going to have a long road ahead of him. The boat propeller struck Colorado several times, unfortunately causing severe spinal damage. Dr. Doug Mader was in the next day to debride the wound and stabilize the shell. After evaluating Colorado, Dr. Mader determined he would never be released back in the wild. We are going to make Colorado’s life as good as we possibly can while he is here recovering from his boat strike. As soon as he is strong enough, we will begin searching for a facility, like a zoo or an aquarium, that can give Colorado a good quality life. Thank you very much to Mark and Charlotte Sampson for saving Colorado’s life! Who knows how long he may have been out there suffering from his injuries!
Celebrating his one-year anniversary being free of FP tumors, L&L experienced another type of freedom–release! A few weeks ago, L&L said goodbye to bunkmates SAS and George, swimming fast toward the open sea on the day of his release.
Mallory completed the influx of sea turtles needing rehab–4 in 4 days!–when she arrived on April 2nd. This green sub-adult is being treated for buoyancy issues while we await an endoscopy to tell us if Mallory has internal FP tumors in addition to the external ones. Mallory was found floating at Turkey Basin around Mallory Point, her name-sake. We are very thankful to her rescuers for getting this turtle the help she needed and for checking up on her in the days since her arrival!
Another green sea turtle came to us on March 13th with an old boat strike to the back end of the carapace, coupled with developing FP tumors. Reginald was malnourished and had some buoyancy issues upon arrival but is moving around much better these days. Unfortunately, spinal damage has caused partial paralysis in the back flippers. The good news is Reggie has become a champion eater, and we’re seeing weekly improvements in the turtle’s blood chemistry.
Juvenile greens Hess and Fiddle arrived at The Turtle Hospital on March 12th, transfers from Sea World’s rehab facility. FP tumors sprouted on Fiddle shortly after his rescue by Sea World, and so he came to us where our favorite veterinarian, Dr. Mader, zapped off the growths. Fiddle is also recovering from a boat strike on the rear of his carapace that paralyzed his rear flippers. These flippers were also nibbled on by a predator. Nevertheless, Fiddle swims like a maniac and remains a feisty individual during med time. His suite-mate in Orlando, Hess, came along as well having been treated for emaciation and lethargy. Due to malnourishment, Hess received a blood transfusion from a sea turtle donor back at Sea World! We’re beefing up Hess, getting some meat on those bones, and hope to release her soon!
Our first patient of 2012 is ready to go home! Come wish Rocky D, a loggerhead sea turtle well on Saturday, March 31st, 1:00 p.m. at Anne’s Beach, MM 73 in Islamorada as we release him back to his ocean home. Rocky D was rescued on January 10th. X-rays revealed his intestines appeared to be filled up with shell from small snails and crustaceans. Loggerheads will sometimes go after alternate food sources when they can’t find the items in their natural diet. A normal loggerhead diet should consist of crab, lobster, clam, and conch. After being impacted the turtles will begin to float on the surface of the ocean due to gas in their intestines, and they become very vulnerable. Rocky D was treated at the hospital with lactulose, beano and glycerin enemas which will helped to move the impaction along quicker. Fluids helped to hydrate him and antibiotics helped to prevent infection.
Sully, a loggerhead sea turtle was ushered back into the wild at Founders Park beach in Islamorada on Sunday, March 25th with the help of enthusiastic local residents. Sully was treated for an impaction and is fully recovered. Sully was rescued in the Florida bay off of Islamorada in December.
