By Karen Sota

We love every turtle that comes to us for care and hopefully a second chance. But right now a sizable adult loggerhead lady has stolen our hearts.

“Titanite” was rescued from a research pound net on July 15th and it was immediately apparent that she had been the victim of a brutal shark attack, and a fairly recent one at that. She was missing a portion of her right front flipper, had large bite marks in her neck and it looked like she had lost one of her “toes.” Her carapace was bitten through, but luckily it was near the edge and the bite did not penetrate the coelomic wall where the organs are located. And her eye looked like it had a possible laceration. She was a tragic sight.

After being settled in a shallow tank in Sick Bay Titanite began what looked to be a long period of recovery with intensive and frequent hands-on care by our staff. Obviously she was in pain, especially around her neck, and would give us the side-eye when we approached that area. She was kept as comfortable as possible with pain medication and her wounds were treated with a variety of topical and injectable meds to prevent infection and facilitate healing.

Titanite was not able to go on to our recirculating water system in Turtle Bay until she had gone through quarantine, so for her first six weeks her water had to be changed up to five times a day. She received treatment for three of those water changes, including flushing with saline and betadine, a honey soak on the wounds and application of SSD. And we still had a problem where her flipper was bitten off – there was a portion of the bone sticking out that needed to be surgically addressed – but not until she was stabilized.

Thankfully she was a good eater, and thankfully not a picky one like our Kemp’s tend to be. She was happy with whole mackerel until apparently word had gotten to her that if there was something about the breakfast preparation not to her liking we would be happy to accommodate her. She started biting off the heads and spitting them out on the bottom of her tank. Now her 3,000 grams of mackerel arrives sans heads. It doesn’t take long for them to train us. 

Several weeks ago, Dr. Harms and his class of 4th year vet students arrived and Titanite was scheduled for her surgery. The protruding bone was carefully trimmed back and the wound was stitched and then bandaged with a compression bandage to minimize bleeding. Her other wounds were debrided and were showing signs of healthy tissue repair. She was placed back in her tank and back on meds for pain and infection. It wasn’t long before she was swimming around probably wondering what that thing was on her flipper. She was eating and back to her new normal of hands-on treatments the next day. Her progress has been astounding.

Titanite has relocated to Sea Turtle Bay in a large tank with recirculating water to facilitate her healing and minimize handling by our staff. And our water guru, Tina has installed a “waterfall” that she can rest under for a quick nap or carapace massage. Titanite is currently being treated once a day and still insisting on headless mackeral. You can see her from a distance from our observation ramp when you come to visit us.
 
We’ve now on our fall tour days and hours, and we still have patients waiting for your visit. There are major renovations scheduled for late fall, so be sure to buy your tickets soon before we close. Our hospital matriarch “Snooki” is eagerly anticipating the arrival and installation of her new fifteen-foot tank, complete with a window!

Please keep an eye out for any sea turtle activity on the beaches or in the water. As the nests continue to hatch it’s possible you’ll find a hatchling that’s gone astray. Carefully pick it up and put it in a small container with some sand and a very small amount of water - barely cover the flippers. It’s important that the little critter does not bake in the sun, or sit exposed to the elements/predators when we get these unexpected night temperature drops into the 50’s. Then call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at: 910-470-2880. Calls to her number after hours will automatically be forwarded to her for action. You may also call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. We will take the information and one of our area coordinators will meet you to retrieve the hatchling and refer it to us for follow-up. Terry is also the contact for any sick, injured or pier-hooked turtle. The State of NC turtle hotline for strandings picks up 24/7 at 252-241-7367. Remember that interfering with or harassing federally protected sea turtles in any way makes you subject to steep fines and possible imprisonment. Our work with sea turtles, at the hospital and on the beach, is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 23ST05.

By Karen Sota

We often use the term “sweet” when we talk about our patients. Although some of them may have a bad day every once in a while, there are many times when our turtles are literally sweet.

We’re always searching for ways to improve our rehabilitation protocols, especially when it comes to wound care. Years ago we started using honey on wounds that were resistant to the normal topical creams and ointments. Although we were not sure it would actually help it did. In fact, it worked wonders. The turtles could get a little sticky but that’s small price to pay for the rapid improvements we see.

So why honey? Maybe the story of recent admit “Pixie Dust” will answer that question. This little 3kg green came in from the Cape Lookout area on December 21 with a bunch of other cold-stuns. And if being almost frozen wasn’t bad enough she also had a large area of deep abrasions in the form of an arc on her plastron and other wounds typical of a shark bite. To add insult to injury, literally, she had sand in her eyes and was toting around a heavy load of barnacles. She was pitiful, and after a slow thaw was placed in the very critical section of Sick Bay.

Her treatment protocol has been long and involved, initially including freshwater soaks to kill the barnacles. She’s been given fluids, vitamins and antibiotics along with betadine bandage soaks. Once stable enough we started honey treatments on that nasty shark bite. Obviously, you can’t just spread honey on a turtle and put it back in a tank of water. For Pixie it meant spending time on her back in a pillow of soft, fluffy towels. Honey was spread on her wounds, and she was off to dreamland (currently for ten minutes) while it worked its magic. With a bit of coaxing she finally started to eat, at which point we knew that the little girl had a future. If you want to see what honey can do for wound healing just look at the pictures of her on the day she came in and now.

So, what makes honey so great, other than its taste? It has three main properties: it's antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant. It is acidic with a pH of between 3.2-4.5 and when applied to wounds encourages the hemoglobin to release oxygen which is critical to wound healing. It’s a sugar and sugar draws out the water in damaged tissues, reducing swelling. It also draws the water out of any bacterial cells and that keeps them from multiplying. And it’s completely safe for sea turtles.

Pixie Dust will be with us for a while, and the staff love to spoil her. She has a perfect name for a perfect example of the magic we do at our hospital.

We’re still admitting cold stuns like Pixie Dust. We really do rely on our locals and visitors to keep any eye out for victims of cold snaps. So, what do you do if you see a turtle that has washed up on the beach or in our marshy areas or is in the water floating motionlessly? First, don’t assume it is dead. They literally can’t move, maybe not even blink. Whether the turtle is big or small immediately call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at: 910-470-2880. If she is not available, call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. If the turtle is below the high tide line and in danger of washing out move it above the high tide line if you can do so safely. Ideally you should remain with the turtle until our trained volunteers arrive to retrieve it. If that is not possible find a way to indicate the location of the turtle on the beach by drawing large arrows in the sand or placing beach debris nearby. The State of NC hotline for stranded, sick and injured turtles is 252-241-7367. The state number picks up 24/7. All conservation work for endangered sea turtles at KBSTRRC and on Topsail Island is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 23ST05.

We are officially closed to the public right now, but have tentative plans to re-open for limited days beginning in March. Check out the Visit page on our website for any updates Our gift shop is open year-round online so you can still find all kinds of cool turtle-themed merchandise, much of it exclusive to us. And if you’re looking for something for those impossible-to-buy-for relatives and friends, consider adopting one of our patients.

By Karen Sota

We’re always ready to talk turtle. And during 2022 we had plenty to talk about. Last year we admitted the highest number of turtles in our history – 119. And that number doesn’t include the patients we had on site at the beginning of the year - making a total of 140 turtles cared for in 2022. To say we were exceptionally busy would be an understatement. And although turtles are our focus there’s a lot of public engagement and behind the scenes activity that must happen, too.

Last year our staff devoted countless hours welcoming visitors for tours. We opened early in the year and were open more days than ever before. We now have an attractive portico to keep you all out of the sun and rain. We reworked our education hall exhibits with lots of cool visuals and a variety of videos. We added a “search for the turtles” scavenger hunt and coloring page for kids along with a box of special shells they could pick from upon completion. And the gift shop – just wow! We took it down to the walls and totally rebuilt it not only with display structures but with so much new turtle-themed merchandise it will make your head spin. We focused on keeping with our mission of conservation in selecting products, many of which are exclusive to us and support local artisans.

But we didn’t stop with the hall. In October all on-site patients were temporarily relocated to other areas in the hospital while we undertook a much-needed rehab in Sea Turtle Bay. New energy-efficient lighting, rust repair and mitigation and the resurfacing of floors that were definitely showing signs of a decade of turtle care. The contracted work was completed on schedule and the critical time-consuming job of reconfiguring and replumbing tanks by our life support team began. Little by little the patients were moved back in, with a few of them getting tanks with a million-dollar view – a window. And we added information sheets about each of them along the railings so you can keep track of your photos during your tour.

We have some exciting things planned for 2023, but with almost seventy patients currently in various stages of rehab we can’t really tell you when we’ll be able to open for tours again. The staff arrives in the dark and leaves in the dark. Most of these turtles are cold-stuns and some look like long-term cases. We’re hoping that we don’t get another week like the one that brought all these guys and gals in, but it is still technically winter.

We rely on our locals and visitors to keep any eye our for victims of cold snaps. So, what do you do if you see a turtle that has washed up on the beach or in our marshy areas or is in the water floating motionlessly? First, don’t assume it is dead. They literally can’t move, maybe not even blink. Whether the turtle is big or small, immediately call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at: 910-470-2880. If she is not available, call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. If the turtle is below the high tide line and in danger of washing out move it above the high tide line if you can do so safely. Ideally you should remain with the turtle until our trained volunteers arrive to retrieve it. If that is not possible find a way to indicate the location of the turtle on the beach by drawing large arrows in the sand or placing beach debris nearby. The State of NC hotline for stranded, sick and injured turtles is 252-241-7367. The state number picks up 24/7. All conservation work for endangered sea turtles at KBSTRRC and on Topsail Island is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 23ST05.

We are officially closed to the public for the year. Depending on our patient load we may be able to open for tours sporadically after the first of the year. Check out the Visit page on our website for any updates Our gift shop is open year-round online so you can still find all kinds of cool turtle-themed merchandise, much of it exclusive to us. And if you’re looking for something for those impossible-to-buy-for relatives and friends, consider adopting one of our patients.