The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center

.......At that moment, I glanced down, and there, right next to the dock where I was standing was, you guess it; the turtle!! Jumping into the water with only my flip flops for protection would be sheer folly, but this was just too great a chance to miss! I had to do something! With a fleeting thought of, "Oh well, why not?", I executed a spur-of-the-moment belly flop onto the dock, dug my toes into the planks, and grabbed hold of one surprised turtle.

Our unwilling rescue-ee had other plans. With her flippers gyrating wildly, she was trying desperately to propel herself into the relative safety of the murky depths of the marina, with me not far behind. Gritting my teeth, and clamping down with my toes, I hung on for dear life! Finally, my son thudded down onto the dock next to us. He grabbed hold of the turtle with his strong arms, and with plenty of grunting, groaning, and snapping of a powerful beak, we wrestled the turtle over the side and onto the dock.

Yes indeed, we had an injured turtle on our hands! She had been hit by a boat prop multiple times: a strike on the front left flipper, three strikes across her carapace, and one between her nostrils running all the way to the tip of her beak.

lennie	boater	bear II	lefty	oceans11	chase	ranger	freeman	scuter	durham
friday	IC	westy	canady	waterway	snaggle	anderson2	bishop	veteran

THE STRANDING	Karen and Jeff Loveless reported seeing a large sea turtle in the marina near Wrightsville Beach as they were returning from a day of fun in the sun. Thinking it a bit odd that the turtle would be hanging out amongst so many boats they called to report the sighting to Nancy Fahey. Nancy responded and over the course of several hours was able to retrieve an injured loggerhead sea turtle. Here is part of her account. .......At that moment, I glanced down, and there, right next to the dock where I was standing was, you guess it; the turtle!! Jumping into the water with only my flip flops for protection would be sheer folly, but this was just too great a chance to miss! I had to do something! With a fleeting thought of, "Oh well, why not?", I executed a spur-of-the-moment belly flop onto the dock, dug my toes into the planks, and grabbed hold of one surprised turtle. Our unwilling rescue-ee had other plans. With her flippers gyrating wildly, she was trying desperately to propel herself into the relative safety of the murky depths of the marina, with me not far behind. Gritting my teeth, and clamping down with my toes, I hung on for dear life! Finally, my son thudded down onto the dock next to us. He grabbed hold of the turtle with his strong arms, and with plenty of grunting, groaning, and snapping of a powerful beak, we wrestled the turtle over the side and onto the dock. Yes indeed, we had an injured turtle on our hands! She had been hit by a boat prop multiple times: a strike on the front left flipper, three strikes across her carapace, and one between her nostrils running all the way to the tip of her beak.
THE TREATMENT	Initially placed in fresh water to detach the barnacles. Her beak was split open and barnacles were growing inside.
	Her admission was nicely timed with a one week veterinary care and evaluation visit led by Dr. Craig Harms and senior students from NC State School of Veterinary Medicine. Under anethesesia her beak wound was assessed and cleaned and possible future actions discussed.
DEC 2011	The fractures have all healed nicely. The carapace is treated every three days the split in the beak is cleaned. Despite what would seem to be an handicap this turtle is always ready for a meal.
JAN 2012