A Kemp's ridley sea turtle with a severe fracture of the carapace after initial cleanup and stabilization.

Crater Lake or Crater for short was brought in yesterday afternoon off of a beach in Sandwich, Mass. The Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Team went down and met up with James and Dennis from Wellfleet Audubon. They had already taken the turtle off the beach and were ready to get the turtle packed up in our ambulance to head back to the Aquarium.

This was another Kemp's ridley that had a severe fracture to the carapace (top part of shell). It looks like it probably was made by a boat propeller. We cleaned up the shell a bit and determined that the fracture did not appear to involve any major organs. Dr Innis and Dr Cavin flushed out the areas of soft tissue under the fracture and tried to determine the best route of action.

After stabilizing the fracture, Crater was tucked in to the ICU for the night. So today we decided to put the turtle back together again!

So there is a little bit of a debate about our new turtle's name.

While part of the rescue group was off on the cape helping with a training session. Two of our other staff members were at the New England Aquarium receiving our second sea turtle of the season. Unlike Acadia this one fit the typical stranding scenario.

Our newest sea turtle of the 2009-2010 cold-stun season.

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we hosted our joint mass stranding response-training with our stranding partners from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The IFAW stranding team covers the mainland Cape Cod, which is home to frequent mass stranding events. For those of you who are not familiar with the term mass stranding, this refers to the phenomenon of multiple dolphins or whales coming ashore at the same time.

These events can be quite large and range between 2 to 100 or more animals coming ashore at once. Managing these events takes a great many resources, careful planning, and a lot of training between the two organizations. The other key ingredient for successful mass stranding response is a large team of highly trained, dedicated volunteers.

Our mass stranding volunteers are required to attend a lot of training before responding to mass stranded dolphins and whales. Yesterday's class was an advanced course, which included lectures, breakout groups, practical skills and a written test. We are most fortunate to have a wonderful group of dedicated mass stranding volunteers, below are photos of them and the staff during the training workshop.

 
Misty from IFAW (second from left), Kate and Adam listening to another presenter and preparing to give their lectures. 

The New England Aquarium and IFAW rescue teams wish to thank everyone who helped make yesterday a successful day of training. We also thank the New England Aquarium Dive Club for providing the participants with breakfast. We especially thank all the volunteers who attended the workshop. It is in large part their dedication that makes it possible for us to provide the highest quality response and care to mass stranded whales and dolphins.

- Connie

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Acadia, the loggerhead sea turtle, is adjusting well to her tank. We took her out on Thursday to run blood work, do an exam, and give more fluids. Getting her out of the pool is no easy task!

While Acadia was out of her tank and after we received results from taking her blood, we performed an exam and gave her more fluids.

We received photos today from Joseph Tatulli, the person who first saw the loggerhead sea turtle that was rescued this weekend and reported it. Here is a picture of the turtle in Drummers Pond.


(Photo: Joseph Tatulli)

The first rescued turtle of the season, a loggerhead, in the back of an Audubon pickup. She takes up half the pickup bed!

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we received a BIG surprise from the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Our First cold-stunned sea turtle of the season has arrived. Typically the first turtles are small ridleys and green sea turtles, so this one was a real shocker.

She is an sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle. She was reported to the Wellfleet Audubon Sanctuary late Sunday evening as a juvenile leatherback that was swimming in a marsh. It was already getting dark and we hoped that the turtle would swim back out on its own. When they found it Monday morning it turned out to be this 175-lb. loggerhead.

Hello all,

Sunday afternoon Connie and I were on the phone when I received a call from our Stranding Hotline about a whale that was stuck on a sand bar in Katama bay on Martha's Vineyard. After abruptly hanging up on Connie I called the reporting person and the "fun" began. The whale was about 500 yards north of Norton Point in a shallow region. The caller could see the animal raising and lowering its fluke however it remained stationary in the water.

Orion, a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle and the last of our in-house 2008 cold stunned animals, made its way back into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday.

The last CT scan on the turtle showed improvement to the lung which had a severe pneumonia. Orion has been eating and swimming well for awhile. After a final exam the turtle was deemed able to be released.

With the colder months approaching, we decided to bring Orion a little further south than the others that we released at the end of August. So we loaded the turtle up early yesterday morning and drove down to Long Island to release Orion back into the Atlantic Ocean. This will give Orion a slight advantage over Goose who, at this time, is getting closer to leaving Long Island Sound and Orion should be in about the same area as the other Ridleys we released from Dowse's Beach.

We were able to release the turtle with the help of our colleagues at The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation. We helped kick off their beach cleaning effort on International Beach Cleanup Day at Ponqougue Beach in Hampton Bays.

Hi all,

I am monitoring the movements of Goose, the green sea turtle, very closely and am a bit concerned about the high surf. Of course these animals encounter high surf, storms and tides throughout their lives, however I am being extra cautious since this animal has been in a rehabilitation setting since November. I did not expect to receive as many hits from the tag due to the high surf but so far I am receiving the data.

In the photo below you can see the antenna of the tag bending over after the force of a wave. During high surf and storms we often do not receive as much data because this antenna does not clear the top of the waves.



As many of you know, the track of this little green turtle are posted on seaturtle.org. Goose is currently off the coast of Rhode Island oddly enough off the coast of Gooseberry Island!

-Connie

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This event was so popular that even Spiderman took time out from his busy crime fighting schedule to watch the release! In the photo above, an Aquarium educator talk to the crowd while waiting for the animals to be brought down to the beach.

 

This part of the release is called the "Walk of Fame." The turtles are removed from their transport boxes and walked around the outskirts of the release area. The crowd remains behind the caution tape, but is given a close view of these spectacular animals.

After their 15 minutes of fame, the turtle handlers line up the animals on the beach and place them down at the same time. This year a friendly competition developed among the handlers and the crowd as to which turtle would enter the water first. The Audubon turtle won by a mile, and so did it's cheering section!

After making their way down the beach, the turtles enter the big blue! I attached a satellite transmitter to the shell of a green sea turtle named Goose so I can see how well he does after rehabilitation. The tag will also provide data on where this animal goes, the surrounding water temperature, and the depth and duration of it's dives. You can follow the track of this turtle on seaturtle.org. I'll also proved updates on this blog.

-Connie

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On August 26, 2009, five rehabilitated sea turtles were released on Dowses Beach in Osterville, Massachusetts. In addition, a hybrid sea turtle named Simba was released at the same time by the University of New England (UNE) Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center. Find out more about each turtle's rescue story by scrolling through all the posts about Bubba, Casper, Dash, Iceman and Goose. You can also follow satellite tracking tags used as part of this release at seaturtle.org.

A turtle is prepared for tagging.

Today we finished inconel tagging the five turtles that will be getting released (date and location is yet to be determined). Before being released, all of the turtles need PIT tags and inconel tags. We blogged previously about PIT tags here. Inconel tags are superalloys that are corrosion and oxidation resistant. Imprinted on the tags are distinct numbers that get reported to the Cooperative Marine Turtle Tagging Program.

Both rear flippers are tagged. The area is cleaned with sterile scrubs in order to prevent any infection. This process is not painful for the turtle, and probably can best be described as the pinch you would feel if getting your ear pierced. We also numb the area with lidocaine prior to application, so there is little chance they will feel any discomfort. It is a very quick process, and the turtles are already back in their tanks swimming and don't even notice their new jewelry!



Stay tuned for updates and photos of the release of these turtles. We are also planning on satellite tagging Goose to follow the exploits of this turtle out at sea.

Three loggerhead sea turtles have recently been released from the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research Preservation on Long Island, NY. These turtles started their rehabilitation here at the New England Aquarium back in November and December. Junior was released on July 18th, Herb was released on July 25th and Jupiter, the smallest loggerhead of the Cape Cod 2008 cold-stun season, was released on July 28th.

All three turtles were fitted with satellite tags and can be tracked.


Here is the track for Junior, which Riverhead renamed Atlas.

Harbor seal pups have arrived on the NH and MA coast! Adam posted about pupping season on June 24 with tips of what to do and what not to do when you see a seal on the beach (remember seals are semi-aquatic and it is normal for them to rest on shore). This past week, the rescue department has had several cases, unfortunately, where people did not follow these tips. We had people trying to feed seals hot dogs, seals being covered with blankets, and going for rides in a cooler. Hopefully we can all learn from the following stories.


Story #3: A seal was resting on a beach in NH and we had a field volunteer take a look at it. It seemed to be in pretty good condition except it appeared stressed...shivering slightly and labored breathing. The volunteer noted that a child was sitting about one foot from the seal, although lifeguards had put up signs to keep a 150 foot distance. There were also reports that people tried to feed the seal hot dogs. We know those are not in a seal's normal diet! When you see a seal on the beach, keep your distance for your safety and the seal's safety. Also, never try to feed a seal. Seals eat live food, and food handled or prepared by humans can be dangerous for them. We monitored as a 24 hour watch, receiving updates on it once to twice a day, and the seal ended up going back in the water on it's own.

Also remember that seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which means people can be fined or arrested for harassing a seal, or altering its normal behavior in any way. So keep your distance and call our stranding hotline right away if you see a sick or injured seal on the beach!

WARNING: This post includes graphic photographs of a deceased pygmy sperm whale. This post may not be appropriate for everyone so please proceed with caution or skip this blog.

Hi all,
Deceased animals are a common part of our work in the Stranding Department. There are many reasons an animal may wash up dead or die on the beach. Natural causes such as old age, failure to thrive for a pup or a calf, disease, human interaction such as encounters with fishing materials or ship strikes, and predation by other marine species. This list is by no means complete, it is a short list to reinforce the concept that, like people, animals die too.

It is important to perform a necropsy (animal autopsy) on marine mammals and sea turtles to try to determine the cause of death. The longer the animal has been dead the more difficult this task becomes. As an authorized marine mammal responder on behalf of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) we are obligated to collect a certain set of data depending on the condition of the animal when found.

So, on to the story of the pygmy sperm whale ... this animal was found dead in the surf in Winthrop, Mass. on Monday night. I'll start you off with a distant photo so you can test your stomach for this sort of thing.

In the image below, the Department of Conservation and Recreation relocates the animal to a beach were we can conduct a necropsy examination and then bury the animal deeper the 6 feet. Pygmy sperm whales, (Kogia breviceps) are fairly rare north of Cape Cod, however we do see them from time to time.
















Species identification, age class, gender, condition of the animal, and measurements are of the utmost importance. When this pygmy sperm whale washed ashore, it had been dead for a few days at least. Most of the skin was missing and the eyes were sunken in. With the skin missing, most of the obvious field markings were gone. To determine exact species of an animal in this condition it is best to look at the overall size, shape and location of the dorsal fin, shape of the mouth and the the shape, location and number of teeth. Pygmy sperm whales have a small narrow lower jaw with long sharp curved teeth located only in the lower jaw.


In this photo, I examine the teeth for shape size and location to confirm that this animal is a pygmy sperm whale. Pygmy sperm whales can often be confused with dwarf sperm whales which, look almost exactly alike.


This photo shows the animal in the surf before we removed it from the water. As you can see most of the skin is missing with the exception of the long black patch. Note how far back the dorsal fin is located ont his animal, this is one of the distinguishing characteristics between the pygmy and dwarf sperm whales.

We completed a detailed external examination of the animal before we began the dissection or necropsy. We found a linear (straight line) scar (one of several). This is a sign that this animal had some sort of encounter with a made-made object. The technical term for this finding is called evidence of Human Interaction. 

I decided not to include any photos of this animal once we began making our cuts to enter the body cavity. I'll explain here that we examined all the organs and the tissues under all the scars. The dissection of this animal took several hours. While we had the help of three interns, Adam and I did all the cutting and organ examinations. We learned a great deal from this animal and wish to thank the animal control officer in Winthrop, all members of the harbor master's office in the town of Winthrop, the staff from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Massachusetts Environmental Police for helping secure this animal and providing support for us to perform this important necropsy.

-Connie

While our turtles are still doing great in the Sea Turtle Recovery Room [The space that housed the Sea Turtle Recovery Room is now The Trust Family Foundation Shark and Ray Touch Tank. Rescued sea turtles are now cared for at the new, much larger Animal Care Clinic in Quincy.], I thought I would post about seal pup season, which is now upon us. Harbor seal pups are now being born along our coastline. Here are some tips and information about viewing seals.
-Adam

You can find out more about what the Marine Animal Rescue Team guidelines on these pages.