by Karen Sota

Many of the cold-stunned patients we admitted over the winter are well on their way to getting their final release papers, along with a boat ride home. But we still have a few in our Sick Bay area that need some extra TLC. One of those is a little green named “Thistle.”

Thistle stranded on Cape Lookout on January 18th with more problems than just being frosty. As a turtle starts to experience the effects of the cold their circulation decreases leaving them unable to move. Their flippers and head are especially vulnerable to all kinds of damage as they lie exposed and helpless. That includes predation.

Thistle was on the thin side, we’ve seen much worse, but we don’t normally see a bite wound on a sea turtle that clearly came from a mammal. Based on the outline of the bite and some adjacent marks it appears that Thistle was almost a snack for a coyote. Her wound is on the underside of her right front flipper and is very deep, through muscle and down to the bone. The bite is serious, and her flipper is extremely fragile, but she somehow manages to use it quite well.

Thistle was immediately put on the standard protocol of fluids and antibiotics, along with topical wound treatment consisting of lots of flushing with saline and diluted betadine after which she spends time resting comfortably on a fluffy towel while honey is applied to her wound and left to work its magic. Following a final flush, SSD is applied before she’s returned to her tank.

After a few weeks with us it became apparent that the surrounding tissue was getting worse; the size of the wound was growing, possibly from bacteria foreign to a sea turtle. Fluids, antibiotics, and wound care has continued and now we’re finally seeing signs of healing. We want the dead scar tissue to slough off by itself without disturbing the muscle healing beneath it. Thistle is kept in extremely clean water, switched between tanks multiple times during the day and handled very gently. And barring anything out of the ordinary it looks like this little lady has beaten a wily coyote and will be going back home with all of her flippers.

We’ve had a very busy few weeks since reopening for public tours. All time slots have been filled on Fridays and Saturdays but take heart. We’re adding another day – Sunday -beginning in April. Tour hours will be 11 AM – 1 PM on Fridays and Saturdays, and Noon – 2 PM on Sundays. Tickets must be purchased in advance through the reservations page on our website. Select the date, time and the number of guests in your party and purchase your tickets. We limit the number of guests for each time to make the experience more enjoyable and to continue our commitment to keep you and our staff safe as we work our way through Covid, and we are still requiring masks for everyone except children under 5 years of age – no exceptions. And just a reminder that you can come to the gift shop without going on the tour. Enter through the single door to the left of the main entrance.

Even though we’re still on alert for late-arriving cold stuns it won’t be too much longer until those turtle mamas start heading toward shore. On Topsail our official start to nesting season is May 1st. If you spot anything unusual such as a stranding or nesting, please call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at: 910-470-2880. If she is not available, you may call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. We will take the information and we will meet you to retrieve the turtle that will then be brought to us for follow-up. The State of NC hotline for stranded, sick, and injured turtles is 252-241-7367. The state number picks up 24/7. Please note that all our work with sea turtles, at the hospital and
on the beach, is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 22ST05.

By Karen Sota

In case you haven’t already heard, we’re open again for tours! Our first two weeks were a great start to the year with people wearing big grins eager to see our patients, and to visit our renovated gift shop. We’ve never opened this early in the year before and weren’t sure if anybody would come. Turns out we had nothing to worry about.

During March we are open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 AM – 1 PM. We’ll add another day beginning in April. You must purchase your tickets in advance through the Visit page here our website: www.seaturtlehospital.org. Select the date, time and the number of guests in your party and purchase your tickets. We limit the number of guests for each time to make the experience more enjoyable and to continue our commitment to keep you and our staff safe as we work our way through Covid. All of our southeastern NC counties are not yet in the green for transmission and we are requiring masks for everyone except children under 5 years of age – no exceptions. And just a reminder that you can come to the gift shop without going on the tour. Enter through the single door to the left of the main entrance.

Last time I mentioned that two of our patients, greens Belle and Rosemary had moved into a duplex tank and were getting along “swimmingly” as neighbors. And that we also suspected that Belle’s little turtle brain was cooking up some plan to supplement her daily ration of veggies. You have to understand that Belle is on the high end of the body condition scale where 1 is teensy and 5 is well, definitely not teensy. Dr. Harms has put her at a 4.5 out of the goodness of his heart. But in all honesty she’s a big old 5. Apparently you can gain weight on veggies even without the blue cheese dressing.

We’re not sure how she did it but she managed to grab Rosemary’s veggie feeder and drag it under the divider so she could have it all for herself. But in her haste she forgot that she had left a flipper sticking out on Rosemary’s side of the tank. Rosie took advantage of Belle’s focus on the cucumbers and kept biting on that flipper in retaliation. You go, girl. Despite Belle’s swindle, they remain friends and enjoy long swims together in the therapy pool – for now.

Seems Mother Nature is not totally done throwing in bouts of wintry weather just to keep us out of shorts and flip-flops. One day it’s 80 and two days later it’s in the 40’s. There are most likely still debilitated turtles out there that might be stranding in the next few weeks. Please continue to be on the lookout for any turtle in distress. Don’t assume a turtle is beyond help because it can’t move. They may be just stunned to the point of not being able to move, even unable to
close their eyes. If you spot anything unusual, please call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at: 910-470-2880. If she is not available, you may call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. We will take the information and we will meet you to retrieve the turtle that will then be brought to us for follow-up. The State of NC hotline for stranded, sick, and injured turtles is 252-241-7367. The state number picks up 24/7. Please note that all our work with sea turtles, at the hospital and on the beach, is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 22ST05.

by Karen Sota​
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Our turtles welcome you back! We’ll reopen for public tours on a limited schedule beginning Friday, March 4th. Throughout the month of March you can visit us on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 AM – 1 PM.

To book your tour, log on to our website reservations page and follow the prompts.  Select the date, time and the number of guests in your party and purchase your tickets. We limit the number of guests for each time to make the experience more enjoyable and to continue our commitment to keep you and our staff safe as we work our way through Covid. Our southeastern NC counties are still considered high transmission areas and we are requiring masks for everyone except children under 5 years of age – no exceptions.

We have thirty patients on-site, most of them in Sea Turtle Bay completing their recovery and hoping for a ticket to warmer waters. Greens Belle and Rosemary are now sharing a “duplex” tank immediately inside the Turtle Bay doors. After a short territorial dispute they’ve become BTF’s – Best Turtle Friends. We suspect Belle may have an ulterior motive though. Rosemary still receives a small ration of fish with her morning veggies while Belle (who is zaftig, to put it kindly) is served only veggies. We think the reason Belle hangs out by the divider so much is that she’s hoping some fish will accidentally come floating her way. Those big innocent turtle eyes, and big turtle hips can’t fool us.

The turtles still housed in Sick Bay require specialized treatment before they can move to a coveted spot in Turtle Bay. They’re part of our “colors” group, named after Crayola crayons. They all receive daily swims in our therapy pool to facilitate strength and range of motion. Several of them get along quite well and you can see them enjoying their time together.  Others, not so much, so they are scheduled for solo swims.

Now for the really exciting announcement: our gift shop has been totally renovated and it’s open for browsing and shopping. And you can visit the gift shop without taking the tour by entering through the single door to the left of our main entrance. We have all of your favorites plus a plethora of gift items, including some from local artisans. And of course, our adoption table is open and ready for you to adopt your favorite turtle from your visit. Take home their photo, adoption certificate and, depending on level of adoption, one of our premium gift shop items. All adoption gift shop proceeds go directly to the care of our patients.

Although the spring weather appears to be trying to get here, we’re still not done with cold-stuns. At this point the turtles are not so much cold as they are severely debilitated from prior cold-stunning. This year it’s seems to have hit the larger loggerheads particularly hard. Please be our extra eyes for spotting for any turtle in distress. Don’t assume a turtle is beyond help because it can’t move. They are stunned motionless. If you spot anything unusual please call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at: 910-470-2880. If she is not available, you may call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. We will take the information and we will meet you to retrieve the turtle that will then be brought to us for follow-up. The State of NC hotline for stranded, sick, and injured turtles is 252-241-7367. The state number picks up 24/7. Please note that all our work with sea turtles, at the hospital and on the beach, is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 22ST05.