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