I was very excited this morning when I logged into my email account and found a message from Goose, the green sea turtle! In case you've forgotten or never got a chance to "meet" Goose... we satellite tagged and released Goose from a Cape Cod beach in August 2009 (see picture below) after about nine months of rehabilitation.




Transmissions from the satellite tag allowed us to follow Goose's progress through mid November, when the tag stopped functioning. We weren't sure if we'd ever hear from Goose again. Then yesterday, all of a sudden, there were several messages from the tag that pinpointed Goose's location offshore of Maryland. The surface temperature in that area is over 70 degrees due to the Gulf Stream. Goose can stay there comfortably for a long, long time.

We are so excited to continue to track Goose's progress. If you'd like to follow Goose, as well, you can go to http://www.seaturtle.org/. The tag will transmit once a week from now until the battery runs out, so we hopefully can follow Goose for another few months.

-Kate

Last week, Connie blogged about a bronchoscopy conducted by Aquarium veterinarians to assess the severity of the pneumonia in the green sea turtle, #21. I know a lot of people were following this case and I wanted to share the unfortunate news that even after all the procedures, medications and TLC, #21 died on Sunday morning. #21 was definitely a fighter who hung on longer than any of us expected, but ultimately the infection and swelling of the lungs proved too severe for recovery.

Hi all,

For the Rescue staff the first sign of winter isn't the cold or the snow, it's the arrival of the arctic seals. This morning I received a call from a local police department about a seal on the beach. As most of you know, seals are semi-aquatic and routinely rest on shore or on rock clusters along the coast. As long as we don't see signs of traumatic injury, significant weight loss, or signs of disease, seals are placed on a 24-72 hour watch. The length of the watch depends on the species, age class and overall visual health of each animal.

Arctic seals, like the adult harp seal in the photos below, appear on our beaches in the winter time. When they come out to rest they often stay out between 1and 3 days before moving on. As we have mentioned before on this blog, seals are opportunistic feeders and do not need to eat daily.
Some of you may remember the wayward adult harp seal that swam way up the Saugus River last winter and had to be collected and transported back to the ocean by our team - it was a bit of a media event.

And for those of you about to email us asking for the location of this animal...I'll save you the time. We never disclose the location of the animals until after they leave the area. If you've been following this blog then you will remember a little federal law called the Marine Mammal Protection Act that forbids people from approaching marine mammals. They come out to rest and they best way for them to accomplish that is to get a little peace and quiet. Please enjoy the photos though.


I "deputized " a citizen to do a close approach to obtain  photos so I could assess the animal's overall condition. The coloration on this animal is typical of an adult harp seal. Another caller notified me of this animal and mentioned that the seal "barked" at him. Harp seals are known to be very vocal animals. (Photo taken by Robert Sheridan)


This animal is bright and alert and currently not in need of medical attention. The animal will be checked twice a day for attitude, alertness and body condition.

- Connie

HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

What a beautiful morning here at NEAq. While the Aquarium is closed to the public on Christmas, the place was bustling inside. Staff members were all over the building feeding animals, cleaning exhibits, testing water chemistry, and in the case of the sea turtles, completing medical treatments.

I had to run over the the Ocean Center for additional medical supplies and caught this beautiful shot on my way back into the main Aquarium building (yes as you can tell from the blog I am rarely without a camera!). You can see the beautiful sunshine and the fog bank offshore.



With a full turtle ward, we certainly need a lot of help, even on Christmas. We're very grateful to our volunteers, who gave up their holiday to come in and help with turtle treatments, feeding and cleaning.


Happy Holidays to all creatures great and small.

- Connie

Hi all,

I am very sorry to report that we lost #85 this morning. #85 was the little Kemp's Ridley sea turtle that I wrote about last week when I highlighted a number of critical cases. Most of you will remember #85 from his time on the surf board. He was a very sick turtle and would tire quickly in the pool. His breathing was never normal, however he would breath better in the pool than when resting in a sea turtle transport box. I put him on the foam pad to facilitate breathing and allow him to float around the pool. From his foam pad he would watch the other turtles swimming around.




Dr. Innis had this animal on the critical list where he was monitored several times a day and medications and treatments adjusted as needed. In the end, the effects of severe hypothermia were too much even for constant care and the highest level of veterinary medicine. Yesterday his energy level sharply declined and he took a turn for the worst and we lost him this morning.


Thanks to all who posted comments of support for this animal. Your comments do make it to the Rescue staff and they are greatly appreciated.

- Connie

Hi all,

One new turtle arrived today. Number 119, a green sea turtle, arrived with an internal temperature of about 44 degrees (F). This animal was responsive but very slow and in poor health, as you might imagine.




The two arrivals from yesterday are more active today but still in guarded condition.

As promised, I'll provide a brief update on #57 (nebulizer turtle) and #85 (surf board turtle).
Yesterday I mentioned that #57 has severe pneumonia and that we began nebulizer treatments. These treatments are much like an inhaler for human patients. Medications are vaporized and breathed directly into the lungs. In order to achieve this in a sea turtle, we place the turtle in a box and administer the vaporized medication into the box.

# 85 was a more active today and only needed the surf board once for a short time. I am still not allowing him to stay in the pool overnight as he tires easily and still does not have a normal swim pattern. I offered him food today but he had no interest. He still is not lifting his head properly to breath and remains on the critical list.

Since I've focused on some of the critical cases over the past few days, I thought I'd tell you some success stories as well. We have many turtles that have started to eat on their own. Green sea turtles tend to be great foragers once they recover from hypothermia. In the photo below are three green turtles that are improving daily and eating very well.

- Connie

Hi all,

There's good news and bad news today. I'm sorry to report that we lost #16 last night. Dr. Cavin was still working on him at the time I wrote last night's blog. After we lost him, Dr. Cavin performed a necropsy (animal autopsy) to see if we could learn why he died. She discovered that his lungs were severely diseased. She took cultures of the lung tissue and sent them to the lab for analysis. She also took photos so the rest of the Rescue staff and the Animal Health staff could see the extent of the disease. I will not include those due to their graphic nature.

On the good news front, #85 (the little Kemp's Ridley on the "surf board") is still with us. He was a little more active today but still having issues with his breathing. His blood work looks a little better, however the breathing issue is very concerning. His condition is still listed as critical at this point. He spent the day alternating between supervised swims, floating on his foam pad and resting in a sea turtle transport box.


The other case I highlighted last night is also still with us. Number 57 began specialized treatments today for his pneumonia and will be nebulized twice a day until the vets discontinue that treatment. I'll post photos of this treatment tomorrow.

Two new turtles arrived this evening, #117 and #118. Both are Kemp's ridley sea turtles and were alert and responsive despite the fact that their core body temperatures were in the high 40s (F).


- Connie

Click here to find out what you can do to help the New England Aquarium Marine Animal Rescue Team.

Hi all,

As you have seen from recent posts (here, here, here and here), we've been incredibly busy saving cold stunned sea turtles. Some of these animals are arriving with internal body temperatures in the 40s (F). Those that come in at these lower temperatures often require intensive therapy. Below are a few such cases we have been working with over the past several days.

In the above photo, Dr. Julie Cavin uses a portable ultrasound machine on #16 to collect a heart rate.

These photos are of turtle #85 on a "surf board."

Rescued turtle #85 is a critical Kemp's ridley who's poor condition upon arrival to the Aquarium necessitated emergency drug therapy. One of the emergency medications included a respiratory stimulant. The stimulant worked for a period of time however the animal was later placed on a ventilator for several hours. Number 85 spent two days in and out of the intensive care unit, coming out only for supervised swims in kiddie pools and treatments/medications. Today #85 improved enough for some supervised exercise in the sea turtle ward. In the above left photo, I gave #85 some swim time in the "big boy pool." He grew tired quickly, however I notice his breathing was better in the pool. I wanted to keep him in the pool but without using up his limited energy resources so I decided to make him a "surf board." It worked beautifully, he was breathing very well on the little foam pad and could watch the other turtles swimming around. #85 will be in guarded condition until we see marked improvements, I'm holding out hope.

Tomorrow brings new challenges for all the turtles, but none more than the most critical, such as the ones I've featured on this page. We continue to work tirelessly to save these incredible animals and greatly appreciate all the words of support and encouragement from so many of you.

THANKS!

- Connie

You may remember that the naming theme for turtles this year is National Parks. We have been receiving lots of turtles this season, but we won't be in a shortage of names so don't worry!


Some examples of names we have so far are Denali, Ellis Island, Zion and Tonto. Though the turtles are being given nicknames, we are still referring to them by number or band color for now because of the large numbers of animals. It is easier to keep track of them that way, but we will have no trouble continuing with the naming theme for the season!

Acadia, the loggerhead sea turtle, was transported to the University of New England Marine Animal Rehab Center (MARC) last week. As turtles continue to arrive at the Aquarium, we needed to open up tank space, and the 160-pound turtle took up lots of it! We were sad to see her go because we have all grown quite fond of her, but we are also excited to see her go to her next phase of rehabilitation at MARC.

We thought we had a lot of turtles last week. Well, this week brought even more! On Monday alone, 15 cold-stunned turtles arrived from Cape Cod and another five today, kicking our rescue efforts into high gear. Biologists and veterinarians on our team are treating the animals for severe hypothermia and dehydration, pneumonia and sometimes cuts and bruises.

After obtaining blood from our turtles the veterinarians establish a fluid plan from the results. Here you can see a rescue rehab team member administering those fluids subcutaneously (below the skin). These are the same types of fluids administered to humans for dehydration.



The majority of the turtles seem to be doing well, however it is very early in the rehabilitation process to know for sure. They have overcome one major hurdle which was to be spotted on the beach by a Wellfleet Audubon member and transported to the New England Aquarium for rehabilitation.



-Adam

Hi all,

Back on November 5, I blogged about a stranded seal on Humarock Beach with facial injuries. The staff at the University of New England (UNE) recently sent photos of this animal and a medical update.

Upon initial exam, the UNE staff treated an approximately 3.5 inch long laceration on the animal's lower jaw. They also found several lesions around the mouth, which were cleaned and treated. The laceration was the source of all the blood you saw in the initial post.


These photos were taken by the UNE staff using the remote camera system in the rehabilitation bay where this seal is recovering.


The photo above is not the greatest quality but it does show the partially healed injury to the lower jaw.
















Seriously people, how cute is this photo! As you can see the seal is sticking out his tongue, while sleeping.

According to our colleagues at UNE this animal is also recovering from a respiratory infection. The animal is on antibiotics and is showing positive signs of improvements.

- Connie

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We are still waiting for the seasonal influx stranded sea turtles to start coming in. Usually we have many more patients than what we currently have. So far we haven't had as many stranded sea turtles this year. A couple of factors that may be keeping the turtles off the beaches are warmer weather and wind direction. We hope it may also mean that more turtles were able to get around and out of Cape Cod bay before the water gets too cold.

At this time of year, we expect the clinic to look like this.

But as we wait I thought I would take you through what will happen to a turtle as it goes through the initial triage process.

We have been keeping an eye on Goose, the green sea turtle, who was released on August 27, 2009 with a satellite tag so that we could track him. For the past couple months, Goose has been hanging out in Long Island Sound. We expected him to head east to the Gulf stream or south, but he stayed in Long Island Sound for quite some time. We were starting to get worried! Luckily, the hits we got from his tag yesterday show that he has made it out of the sound and is heading south. This is great news.

If you would like to follow Goose's track, visit seaturtle.org. You will notice that the map is updated weekly, since we have the tag only transmitting one day per week in order to save battery life. You can sign up to receive email updates or even adopt Goose!

~Kerry

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The goal of rehabilitation is to release the animals back into the wild, and there are many things we do here to make sure our sea turtles are ready. One part is to offer the turtles live food like they would eat in the wild, and for Kemp's ridleys and loggerhead sea turtles, this includes crabs. The crabs we offer are species that are found right here in the Boston Harbor, including the rock crab and the green crab.

A green crab (Photo credit: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?SpeciesID=190)

Bandelier stranded on October 17 and came to the Aquarium the next day. The first thing that we noticed was the defect in his hind flippers.

Notice the abnormality in Bandelier's rear flippers.

Melissa, Jeff and Adam drawing blood on Bandelier.

Yesterday we had a special visit from Jeff Corwin. He came by to take a look at our turtles and hang out for a small while at the aquarium. Jeff has recently finished filming a new documentary for MSNBC, airing on November 22, and he has just had a new book published called 100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth's Most Endangered Species, which tells of the plight of many of the world's most endangered species.

Acadia the rescued loggerhead sea turtle

Part of the rehabilitation process on our animals is collecting blood and fecal samples. Through various diagnostics we can determine many issues that an animal may have.

Hi all,

It was a busy day in the field today. This morning we received a call from a person on Humarock Beach in Scituate, Mass. who found a stranded seal. For any of you who have followed this blog you know that seals commonly come out of the water to rest on shore and are often not injured or "stranded." As always it's important to keep your distance and observe the seal without disturbing it. You can report a seal you think is stranded by calling the 24-hour Marine Animal Hotline: (617) 973-5247.

The Rescue Team will not approach these seals unless there is an obvious injury. This seal, however, did have an injury and was lethargic. The following pictures show what that looks like.


Photos above were taken by Donald Armstrong. I authorized Donald to approach this
seal for good photographs, which I then used to make the decision to collect the animal. (Click to enlarge)


Photo by Donald Armstrong. In this photo you can see the blood around the lower jaw and dribbling down the chest of the animal.

Kate and New England Aquarium Veterinarian Dr. Julie Cavin took a team down to assess the animal and determined that it did need to be collected. They collected it and performed a physical exam, including blood collection and analysis. It was difficult to determine the source of the blood since there was a significant amount of it.

The seal was kenneled after the exam and transported to the University of New England (UNE) Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center. The seal will undergo a series of diagnostics over the next several says to determine the cause of the wounds and its overall health. Our network partners at UNE will have their work cut out for them with this case. We'll keep you posted on her condition (yes it is a little female).

- Connie

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