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INDEX |
AND STAFF |
TRACKING |
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ALBUM |
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| bay | southport | wendy | harley | rodeo II | shackleford II | Fisher III | Taylor |
Surf City |
Cedar III |
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kayak |
PI |
carolina |
nelson |
nettie |
jersey girl |
lennie |
mora |
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Green Sea Turtle Juvenile |
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| THE
STRANDING June 8, 2001 |
 This
little green was found in a flounder net behind Topsail Island,
NC.
Beyond the entanglement, the rear carapace has wounds consistent with
boat
propeller strikes. |
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| THE TREATMENT | The turtle is swimming in sea water and appears healthy, however she is unable to lower her posterior below the surface of the water | |||
| UPDATE Oct 2001 | Bay is now settled in for the winter,
basking in
the sunshine filtering through the windows, still unable to submerge.
 |
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| UPDATE JAN 2002 |
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| UPDATE
MAR 2002 Weight 6.6 kg |
This turtle was transported to the NC State
U, College
of Veterinary Medicine, March 26th, due to the inability to submerge,
after
almost a year in rehab. The wound is healing appropriately.
CT scan and radiographs found no obvious abnormalities, however further evaluation by a radiologist is pending. Sometimes these air leaks can be due to shell structural damage due to trauma, and they will resolve with time. |
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| JUNE 4, 2003 |  |
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| NOV 2003 | Further surgical attempts to alleviate the
problem
have not given Bay much relief. Diving weights were fixed to the
carapace to both level the turtle and allow the turtle to
submerge.
Bay was able to get to the bottom a few times, however the weights
eventually
fell off.   |
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| JUNE 2004 | The weights were a temporary fix and did not last too long. Another attempt to surgically repair the leak will be attempted this summer. | |||
| Surgery to correct the floatation problem has been performed. We are in a wait and see mode. | ||||
| MARCH 2005 |   Bay is growing but not yet better |
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| MAY 2005 |
 Bay might not be able to dive but she did get to move to a larger tank after Obey checked out. It seems likely that Bay will not be released, but will need a good permanent home. |
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We’re often asked how our
turtles adjust to being “in the wild” after spending time as a patient.
The secret to
making a
successful transition from tank to ocean is in “keeping it real” for
our
recovering patients. Bay offers a good example of how we do
that. Bay, a green turtle, was admitted with prop injuries when she was about a year old. Regular readers will recall that Bay has been with us for about 5 years, during which time she’s had many tests, procedures and surgeries in an attempt to correct her “flotation problem.” We’ve had a long time to observe her. Last fall Bay became a fussy, picky eater. Why? Because she’s over 6 years old. Her mouth has serrated “teeth” for cropping grasses and scraping algeas. In the wild she’d be making her final diet change - to a grazing herbivore. Bay was trying to tell us that she was ready to make that change. When we didn’t pick up on the cues quickly enough she made her point by developing digestive problems. It was back to the vet school for Bay, to rule out anything serious. Turns out she just needed her greens, lots and lots of them. Bay still gets some squid, but she eats her
veggies
first. To better replicate her natural diet we’re scooping grasses and
seaweeds
out of our local waterways to supplement her store-bought spinach and
romaine
lettuce. Bay will not be released into the wild, due to her
ongoing
flotation issues. She’s still scheduled to be transported to the
Minnesota Zoo
and Aquarium sometime this year, and over time she’ll grow to about 400
pounds,
proof that eating your greens will make you big and strong!  |
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| Placed Oct 29, 2006 |
Bay's
day finally arrives, and she flys to Minnesota, to become a guest star
at the Minnesota Zoo. You can view the photos of the day by clicking here.
 Rob and Tina fit a round turtle through a rectangular door, and Jeans waves good-bye, as they prepare for flight. |
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