| THE
STRANDING |

Carter II was found with a plastron fracture.
State Sea Turtle Biologist Wendy Cluse received a call from NMFS, who
received a call from the Aquarium, who may or may not have received the
original call, about an injured leatherback in Bogue Sound.
Hearing about strandings this way is a bit like playing that game
"telephone." Wendy called the man who originally reported
it, and he described the turtle as 4-5
lbs. Whew. Definitely not a leatherback. The turtle
was spotted in
the marina of a brand-new subdivision, and he's pretty lucky because
no one was around except a few construction workers. Someone just
happened to be taking a break near the docks and spotted this
guy. He looked like he was having trouble submerging (although it
didn't stop him from munching on some seaweed floating by), so the
guy decided to tell someone. By the time Wendy got there, some
kids
helped get him out of the water with a dip net, and that's when they
noticed the gash on his plastron. She told them she would be
taking him
to a rehab center, and he said, "the Beasley Center in Topsail?
Cool...."
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