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 WENDYWendy -  left eye
LOGGERHEAD

Caretta caretta

Juvenile

  ADMIT JULY 2004
RELEASED
SEPT 17, 2007
Weight  0 kg  
SCL:  cm  
SCW:  cm  
THE STRANDING Found on the beach as a hatchling, with "something" on her eye and brought to the center.
We usually have a few hatchlings brought to the center over the hatching season.  Some were victims of crab attacks, some malformed, some lost and dehydrated.  Because of the size and number we do not dedicate a page to each  hatchling and the hatchlings are release together before the end of the season.  For these reasons Wendy has not appeared on the web site until now.

At admission the hatchling appears to have no vision in the eye.  There is a white-ish growth  or object on the eye.
MARCH 2005  

Summer 05.  Peggy and Wendy
MARCH 2006
The protrusion prevents the eye from closing.  Specialized surgery is ordered and the turtle team and Wendy were off to Virginia.
wendy - Right eye Wendy -  left eye Wendy - top  
Lauren Sigmon administers eye drops.

After consultation with our vet, Dr. Craig Harms, and a visit with specialists at NC State Vet School, Wendy was referred to an Veterinary Opthamologist in Virginia for surgery, where she had a large growth removed from her eye. This growth is called fibropapilloma (FP), is highly contagious among sea turtles, and is eventually fatal if not treated.
 
Wendy continues to be monitored for any recurrence of FP, and to date, the eye remains clear. She returns for testing at the end of the summer, and if all is well, she'll go on the release list.
 
During the summer she is always happy to greet visitors and show off her progress at our open house.

Our new "star" would like to thank the turtle cam star "Bay" for nominating her for this important position at center stage. She wishes her well at her new home at the Minneapolis Zoo & Aquarium.

Endangered sea turtles don’t normally stay at the facility forever; sometimes it could be a matter of days before they are better but it can take years before they reach their peek potential and are considered normal again.
The mission of the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital is to heal the creatures and place them back into their natural state, living in the ocean. The staff does not focus their treatment to make them dependent upon human hands for food or survival. Our goal is to return them to the sea.

SEPT 07
GOAL!
After 3 years, Wendy is returned to the sea.