Marine Animal Rescue Team Blog

Still waiting for the sea turtles...

2009-11-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

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 (For example, browse all the turtles that were here last December). 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.

A Kemp's ridley sea turtle straight from one of the beaches on Cape Cod.

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.

Crackle the turtle on the left came in with a propeller strike. This turtle healed well and was later released. The turtles on the right share their first swim in a kiddie pool.

First, the turtle gets an initial exam. This includes weights and measurements, as well as blood draws and an overall body checkup. A heart rate and respiratory rate are taken. Turtles routinely come in with heart rates of 1 beat per minute and respiratory rates of 1 breathe every 15-20 mins. We look for any obvious injuries and palpate for possible breaks in the flippers. The turtle's eyes are stained to check for abrasions or ulcerations. We gauge the animal's activity level and we note algal cover.

The green sea turtle on the left had it's eyes stained to see if their were any injuries from the cold-stun. The turtle on the right is getting its blood drawn.

We then start getting the turtle back up to a normal temperature slowly over a period of several days. This is accomplished in two ways. The first way is with the Aquarium Medical Center's ICU. We keep the turtles in here when they are not swimming. This allows us to control the temperature the turtles are recovering in. The other way is by swimming them in different temperatures of water. Everyday we increase the temperature of the pools until they are at the turtle’s optimal temperature. The first swim they take with us is in fresh water which helps rehydrate the turtle and kills off the majority of saltwater epibiota (algae, barnacles etc.) on the turtle.

Left- a Kemp's ridley sea turtle getting its first fresh water swim. You can see the algae on the shell. Right is the ICU which helps bring the turtles temperature back up to normal.

Once we get blood results back, the turtle then receives fluid therapy specialized for each turtle. Low glucose and the turtle would get a fluids containing dextrose. Low potassium and we add potassium to the hydration. Then if the turtle is strong enough and the blood work is OK the turtle gets to keep swimming overnight. If the turtle needs more rest it gets put back in the ICU for a good night's sleep.

Two Kemp's ridley sea turtles in the ICU have had water based lubricant put on their shells and their eyes so they do not loose moisture as they rest overnight.

So as we wait for more turtles, we continue to care for our two current patients, Acadia and Bandelier. Both are still doing well.

-Adam

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Goose Finally Heads South

2009-11-18T09:28:00.009-05:00

We have been keeping an eye on Goose, the green sea turtle, who was released on August 26, 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. See his map below.

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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To Crab or Not to Crab? That is the Question.

2009-11-14T15:17:00.008-05:00

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)

We have to make sure the turtles are stable enough and their gastrointestinal tract (GI) is clear. When cold-stunned turtles first arrive, their GI tends to be full of food parts (including crab claws) that are not moving through the digestive system in their initial debilitated state. We monitor the GI by radiographs and observation of bowel movements. We also look at the fecal samples under the microscope to look for parasites like we found in Acadia.

The picture on the left is Bandelier's initial radiograph. Notice the condensed areas in the middle of the x-ray. That is digestive material in his intestines. The picture on the right is Bandelier's radiograph two weeks later. You can see that material is moving through his digestive tract which is a good sign.

Once everything is working properly and there is a normal parasite load, we will start to offer crabs to the turtle. It is not unusual for some turtles to ignore the crabs in the beginning since they prefer their restaurant quality herring and squid, but after some time they figure out how to be a turtle again and start the process of preparing for release.

Casper, a Kemp's ridley sea turtle from the 2008 season, eats his first crab.

Acadia still needs some time for us to monitor her parasite load and we will continue to monitor her digestive system through radiographs. We won't be surprised if she's eating crabs very soon!

~Kerry and Jill

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Just Keep Swimming...

2009-11-12T14:22:00.008-05:00

Adam mentioned in his last post that our Kemp's ridley sea turtle Bandelier has stump-like rear flippers. Bandelier stranded on October 17th 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.

We performed x-rays a couple days after his arrival and this is what we found.

The flipper stops just at the end of the tibia/fibula bones on both flippers. This is most likely a congenital (acquired during development) defect rather than an injury. There is no active wound or any signs that imply the turtle did not hatch this way.

Luckily, the anomaly of Bandelier's flippers does not appear to affect his swimming skills. He is very active in his tank, maneuvering extremely well and going after his herring. We expect that this deformity will not inhibit his ability to be released eventually.

~Kerry

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The Marine Animal Rescue Team's Jeff Corwin Experience!

2009-11-11T15:00:00.003-05:00

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.

Melissa, Jeff and myself drawing blood on Bandelier.

His visit to our Kemp's ridley sea turtle named Bandelier makes perfect sense since Kemp's ridleys are critically endangered and their habitat could easily be decimated by human encroachment and/or global warming. It was very interesting to hear Jeff talk about his experience with hawksbill sea turtles in Indonesia. The tiny population of about 800 hawksbill sea turtles that remain in those waters are illegally hunted for their meat, eggs and shells. The contrast of these photos shows how serious the situation has become.

Left is a hawksbill sea turtle in its natural habitat (Photo: seaturtle.net). Right is a picture of hawksbill sea turtles that were hunted, killed and later confiscated in Indonesian waters (Photo: wildlife extra news).

Jeff was very interested in Bandelier's little stump-like rear flippers.

You can see Jeff looking at Bandelier's rear flippers. This turtle has a congenital issue where both flippers end at the tibia and fibula.

While we discussed the plight of Bandelier, it helped us to look at the bigger picture for the conservation of this and other species of sea turtles. As temperatures rise not only do we have to worry about nesting beaches being lost to rising sea water level but we also have to be concerned about the core nest temperature. The sex of a sea turtle is determined by the nest temperature. As temperatures rise so to will those core temperatures producing only female sea turtles. You can learn more about the effects of climate change on sea turtle populations on the Aquarium's climate change pages.

Sea turtle hatchlings heading to open ocean at Boavista Island (Photo: Daniel Cejudo).

Next Thursday, Bostonians will have an opportunity to meet Jeff Corwin at the New England Aquarium. Even if you can't make the lecture, you can stop by and get a copy of Jeff's new book signed.

-Adam

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The tiny world of marine animal diagnostics

2009-11-10T08:00:00.009-05:00

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.

Acadia the rescued loggerhead sea turtle

Above Jen gets ready to draw blood from Acadia. Clockwise left of Jen are Charlie's arm, Courtney, Glennon and Kendra.

For Acadia our loggerhead sea turtle we were concerned about her anemia and by looking at a blood smear we were able to see that she was producing new red blood cells that will help with the anemic issue. The cool thing about reptile red blood cells is that they contain a nucleus unlike mammals that lose their nucleus in the blood marrow during erythropoiesis. Other blood smears may show lots of white blood cells (WBC) which may indicate an infection our Kemp's ridley Crater lake had an extremely high WBC count.

The photo on the left shows the loggerheads bood smear. The yellow arrow is pointing to an immature red blood cell. Note the darker color and condensed look of the cell in comparison to the other red blood cells. The picture on the right is mammalian red blood cells taken from histologyonline.com.

We also examine fecal samples under the microscope as well to check for possible parasitic infestations. Jen another biologist with the rescue group collected a sample from Acadia and went and looked at it under the microscope in the Aquarium Medical Center with Katie the AMC veterinary technician. They were able to find some cool things.

Above left is a copepod (more about copepods from the Right Whale Team here and here). Most likely this was swimming in the water. One problem with aquatic animals is obtaining a "clean" fecal sample as unless it is a formed piece or the animal is out of the water you may get other critters as well. The above right is a ciliate again possibly from the water but may have been in the feces. They also saw some nematodes but those were too fast to be captured by the microscopes camera. Nematodes are a typical gastrointestinal (GI) parasite in adult sea turtles. Because of their presence Acadia got a deworming oral treatment the following day.

Acadia continues to do very well!

-Adam

Rescuing a Stranded Seal with Injuries - WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTOS

2009-11-05T17:18:00.008-05:00

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.

This photo was taken during the physical exam. The towel is used in restraint so that the animal is not able to bite the person holding the seal while the vet examines the wounds. Notice the rings around this animal's eyes. Seals don't have return tear ducts so wet rings is a sign of good hydration in seals.

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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How many biologists does it take to treat a loggerhead?

2009-11-04T10:40:00.001-05:00

At least twice a week we bring out Acadia, the loggerhead sea turtle, for treatments. She has some superficial skin lesions on her leading edge of the front flippers. This is often seen in cold-stunned sea turtles after they are returned to their proper temperature.

Acadia as she is removed from her rehabilitation tank for treatment.

Some of the skin sloughed off and under microscopic examination we noticed some bacterial rods, this finding prompting the veterinarians to start her on an antibiotic. Her blood work also still shows some minor anemia so we also have been giving her a shot of iron as well.

You can see the sloughing on the leading edge of the front flipper (L). Bacterial rods under microscopy(R).

Unlike the smaller sea turtles we normally admit to our sea turtle clinic, ones that are easily handled by one person, Acadia requires a team. I am told eight is the optimal number but we can get by with five in a pinch. Below are some pictures of us removing her from her tank for a treatment.

In the pool you can see me instructing one of our great volunteers Sarah on how we will coral Acadia and get her out of the pool, while Charlie is waiting on the deck with the "dry" team to receive the turtle (left). Kerry gives Acadia one of her shots (right).

She usually soaks us with her front flippers!

Putting her back in is not as hard as getting her out!

-Adam

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Crater Lake Loses a Weeklong Struggle

2009-10-27T10:07:00.005-04:00

We are very sorry to report that Crater Lake, the Kemp's ridley sea turtle with severe propeller wounds, died overnight. Crater's energy level dropped on Sunday and the blood work started to take a turn for the worse. Aquarium veterinarians adjusted fluid therapy and prescribed new medications in an effort to save Crater, but unfortunately were not successful.

Rescue Team member Kerry McNally with Crater

With such severe injuries, this outcome is not completely unexpected, but we had been hopeful when Crater seemed to be doing well in the first week after admission. We will continue to study Crater's case today in an effort to understand more, which will hopefully help us treat turtles with similar injuries in the future.

Crater's propeller injuries immediately after rescue.

-Kate

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Meet Crater Lake - A rescued sea turtle struck by a boat propeller

2009-10-22T11:10:00.003-04:00

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.

You can see the red lines indicating where the probable propeller strike occured (Left).
After initial cleanup and stabilization (Right).

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.

Keeping with this year's National Parks theme, this turtle is named after Crater Lake National Park

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!

The team getting ready for the procedures.

After cleaning the area and adding some topical anesthetic our Veterinarians started to piece together the carapace. After the carapace was in place we wanted to try and bring the coelomic cavity (the space between all the organs in the body cavity) back into contact with the shell. So we started a vacuum-assisted closure. This will create negative pressure in the crack and slowly draw the coelomic lining towards the shell.

Putting the shell back together.

Placing Glad Press and Seal and Tegaderm to help create suction.

Dr Innis starting the Vacuum pump to create negative pressure.

Crater tucked into the ICU to allow the negative pressure to work.

The turtle is very active and the blood work currently does not show any major anomalies. We are hopeful for a positive outcome!

-Adam

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What's in a name - the rescued turtle debate

2009-10-20T11:08:00.006-04:00

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

Sarah one of our fabulous volunteers with Bandalier.

But first....

Joe Tatulli came to visit his turtle yesterday along with his niece and nephew. You may remember Joe from some of his photos and an interview on a Rhode Island news program. Joe was the original caller for Acadia our loggerhead sea turtle. They were able to say hello to Acadia and meet our new ridley.

Joe with Bethany and Daniel

Joe also knew the way to endear himself to our crew. Not only reporting the stranded turtle but bringing delicious sandwiches from the Sandwich Hut in Providence. Thanks Joe!

Photo from Joe of rescuers taking Acadia back to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

Okay, so back to the naming thing. We chose National Parks for our naming convention this year. With the second turtle most people thought we would name the turtle Bryce imagine their surprise when we called it Bandalier. There was some arguments that it was not a national park but a state park and therefore should be named Bryce.

Bryce National Park (left) Bandalier National Monument (right)

However, through further research we found that it is a National Monument which, is run by the National Parks Service. Though this may be a technicality, I like the name, so Bandalier it is! Also from what I am told Bryce National park is beautiful and has lots of oranges and reds which describes a loggerhead to a tee, and our new turtle is a Kemp's ridley.

We also just received another new turtle. The names being batted around are crater or canyon. The choices may give you a hint to what else is wrong with this turtle besides cold-stun. Check back soon for an update ...

-Adam

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Then there were two - meet the second rescued turtle of the season

2009-10-20T07:54:00.004-04:00

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.

Begining of turtle season usually starts off with smaller sea turtles. This little Kemp's ridley weighed in at a whopping 1.7kg (3.74lbs) and can be moved easily by one person! The core temperature was 65F and unlike Acadia we cannot tell the sex of this turtle.

You can see quite a difference in sizes. A normal season starts off with a 1.7kg Kemp's ridley not a 70kg Loggerhead!

The blood values on this turtle were pretty good so we started swimming the turtle in one of our Aquarium Medical Center tanks (AMC). Unlike some turtles that may require support by our staff and volunteers this turtle started swimming right away.

Not missing a beat the newest turtle started swimming right away.

While we continue to get our Sea Turtle Recovery Room ready for the season you will be able to see this turtle in the AMC.

-Adam

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Mass Stranding Training, Work and Fun All in One!

2009-10-18T17:21:00.014-04:00

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.

Aquarium staff and volunteers are shown in action during a recent mass stranding of Atlantic white sided dolphins. In this photo they are on stretchers being prepared for release. (Photo: Connie Merigo)

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.

In the photo above, Kate (left), Kerry (center) and our volunteer Erin are ready to check in all the volunteers.

The New England Aquarium Dive Club sponsored the event and provided all the participants with hot coffee and breakfast. Many of the Dive Club members helped with this event, I just happened by with my camera and caught Mike and Charles from the club having a laugh over coffee.

Above left, Charles and Katie from IFAW get the crowd geared up at the start of the lecture portion of the day. Center photo show Misty from IFAW (second from left), Kate and Adam listening to another presenter and preparing to give their lectures. Photo on right shows Kate presenting her lecture.

Jane from IFAW provides a refresher to a small group of volunteers on our technique to safely put a dolphin in a stretcher.

Before leaving for the day all the volunteers completed a written test. It wasn't easy, just look at the concentration on the faces of Marty (left) and Larry!

The New England Aquarium and IFAW rescue teams wish to thank everyone who helped make yesterday a sucessful 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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How do you like your calamari? Acadia lets us know her preference!

2009-10-17T10:46:00.010-04:00

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!

Kate Sardi, Rescue Department senior biologist, and Eric Payne, Animal Health Department biologist, put on dry suits and courageously went into the tank to help Acadia out.

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.

Then she was placed back in her tank (a much easier process than getting her out). Our next task was to start feeding. Usually turtles are slow to start eating so it was no surprise that she turned her back on the herring I offered later that afternoon.

By Friday afternoon, Acadia decided squid was her preference and began to eat. No need to fry or grill calamari for her, she takes it raw! Today she even began to eat whole herring. This is an excellent sign!

We will check her bloodwork again early next week and continue to monitor her progress. Check back for updates!

~Kerry

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How can you help the rescue team?

2009-10-16T09:20:00.012-04:00

As the cold-stunning season begins, we expect to be caring for a lot of sea turtles over the next several months, and we need your help! In addition to getting the latest news here on the blog (subscribe here), there are some important things you can do.

Acadia during her rescue in Wellfleet, Mass. (Photo: Joseph Tatulli)

Use The Hotline
Sea turtles in our region do not typically come ashore unless they are seriously debilitated. If you are on Cape Cod or the Islands and see a turtle on shore call the Wellfleet Audubon Turtle Hotline at 508-349-2615 ext:104 if you are north of Cape cod call the New England Aquarium's 24-hour Marine Animal Hotline: (617) 973-5247. Please try to remain calm and leave your name, location of animal and a phone number where you can be reached.

Volunteer
Volunteer with the Marine Animal Rescue Team. We rely heavily on volunteer support! Once properly trained, volunteers assist us in our hospital by providing care to rescued animals as well as working in the office and lab. Field volunteers play a vital role as our eyes and ears on the beaches providing us with detailed information about animals that come ashore.

Volunteers Melissa and Inge assist the Rescue staff during sea turtle season.

Donate
You can also make a donation to help the Aquarium care for these animals. You can donate to our Proud Parent animal sponsorship program using this online form, or you can make a larger donation using this online form.

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Acadia makes a big splash!

2009-10-15T05:00:00.001-04:00

Acadia made a big splash yesterday as she headed on into the Sea Turtle Recovery Room's smaller tank. We had multiple news agencies here to share the experience.

But before going into the tank we wanted to make sure we were able to get some tagging done. While Acadia was still a bit lethargic and not feeling 100% we determined that it would be the best time to PIT and Inconel tag this turtle. These procedures are difficult with the small turtles with animal of this size we would have gotten our butts kicked if she was in a fighting mood!

Connie and Kate prepping Acadia for a PIT tag.

We also gave more fluids to help with the minor electrolyte imbalance and gave an injection of iron to help with her slight anemia. Then we rolled her out of the Aquarium Medical Center over to the tank she will be calling home for a while.

Acadia all wrapped up in a turtle stretcher.

With cameras rolling and lights flashing she was placed into the pool and gave a good splash with her right front flipper.

Acadia being placed into the smaller pool in the Sea Turtle Recovery Room.

After a couple of hours of swimming she gave us a great present of a large bowel movement! This is wonderful news because it means that her intestinal tract is highly unlikely to have an impaction and under microscopic observation there were no signs of parasites.

Here's a movie that shows photos of her rescue and video of us transferring her into the recovery room:

-Adam

Update on our new patient, Acadia

2009-10-13T18:45:00.011-04:00

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)

Also our new loggerhead was given a name today. We have decided on Acadia. Most seasons we choose a theme for naming rescued turtles, this year we have decided on National Parks. Here's a list of the parks.

Acadia National Park is located in Maine.

But enough about the naming. What's going on with our gal...

Intestines in the radiograph.

Yesterday we took radiographs and found that she has a fairly full gastrointestinal tract. She is also missing part of her rear left flipper, most likely due to some predation as a smaller turtle. We removed the majority of barnacles and cleaned her up her shell. Some folks visiting the aquarium got a good show of her receiving a fresh water bath in a small pool as we were removing the algae off of her carapace.

Removing the barnacles

Her blood work shows that she is still slightly anemic because of this we may hold her a little longer than what we had originally planned. Some of the keratin on the Carapace is also starting to slough off which, is not too surprising because of the barnacles and algae cover. We also want to make sure she is able to move the contents out of her intestinal tract and that there isn't a blockage.

Before After

We are planning on putting her into one of our sea turtle tanks in the sea turtle recovery room at some point today. We will monitor how she is swimming and hope the activity will help stimulate GI motility.

-Adam

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The new turtle season starts BIG!

2009-10-12T20:47:00.008-04:00

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.

The big girl in the back of an Audubon pickup, she took up almost half of it.

When the rescue department arrived in Wellfleet the turtle had a temperature of 54.8F because the bay temperature did not drop below 60F this indicates that the turtle had been exposed to the air temperature possibly over the past couple of nights.

Here James from the Audubon Society helps me load the turtle into a kennel and we are able to get a great plastron (lower shell) shot!

The carapace (top shell) was covered with algae and barnacles. She had low respiratory and heart rates. Her blood work showed some minor abnormalities and she was given subcutaneous fluids to help balance them.

Photo of the carapace and the algal and barnacle cover. A close up of the barnacles, yes they are still alive!

We are hoping this animal will have a short stay, but we will know more after X-rays are done and a complete blood work is returned.

-Adam

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A Whale of a Time: Rescuing a humpback whale on Martha's Vineyard

2009-09-29T10:05:00.009-04:00

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 yds. 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.

Fortunately Kate and Kerry were on the island conducting a field volunteer workshop. They responded immediately and were able to verify and identify the animal as a humpback whale. The original caller described an entanglement situation with gear attached to the tail. Because of the distance from shore they were unable to tell if the animal was entangled or had any outward injuries. Paul Bagnall the Shellfish Warden from Edgartown took them out in a skiff for a health assessment and entanglement determination. Under the Aquarium's permit they did a close approach and were able to determine that the animal was not entangled and that there were no outward injuries.

Martha's Vineyard volunteer Dave Grunden with Kate, Kerry and volunteer Danielle responded sunday to this animal in poor weather conditions. (Photo: Courtesy of the Grunden family)

Eventually the team had to leave the animal because it was too dark to safely try any intervention with the whale. We were all hoping for the best but preparing for the worse.

Yes. There is a whale in this picture!

The following morning at daybreak Kate and Kerry headed out once again to try and find the whale. Along with volunteers Dave and Shari Grunden and several shellfish department staff, they searched the area but did not relocate the animal. As everyone was being dropped off at the dock a report came in of a small humpback whale swimming around Edgartown harbor. So back on the boat and off they went again.

Photo thanks to the Grunden Family - The Humpback search team

After about an hour of searching, they located the whale outside the mouth of Edgartown Harbor. They observed the animal's behavior, collected respiration data (breaths), and did a visual health assessment. From their observations this animal was engaging in surface behavior typical of juvenile humpback whales. These behaviors included tail lobbing, tail slapping and possibly one breach. The animal was swimming well and was not emaciated.

The photos above show the humpback engaging in surface behaviors (click to enlarge)

Photographs of this whale have been forwarded to the Whale Center of New England and Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies to see if they can match the photos to known whales in the humpback database. Hopefully this little whale enjoyed its stay on the Vineyard but won't return to Katama Bay.

Check out news stories about this event here and here.

-Adam and Connie

New England Aquarium Sea Turtle Release 2009 Part II

2009-09-20T12:33:00.008-04:00

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.

After we gave a quick introduction of Orion to the volunteers we headed down to the beach.

Once on the beach Julika from the Riverhead Foundation gave a quick talk about safety and to keep the turtles path to the ocean free.

Then we placed Orion on the sand and immediately the turtle started for the ocean!

Orion took a quick pause to catch its breath.

Then challenged the waves (the other turtles had it easy) and back into the Atlantic the turtle went.

Way to go Orion!

We would like to thank the awesome group at Riverhead for providing such a lovely day and beautiful beach to send Orion home!

Also a big thank you to the great people at the Cross Sound Ferry for all your help over the past turtle season!

(You can learn more about Orion! He is featured in the "Stressed Out Sea Turtles" chapter of the Aquarium's online Blue Impact video tour.)

-Adam

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Oh where oh where could our little turtle be?

2009-08-30T13:31:00.010-04:00

Hi all,

I am monitoring the movements of Goose (click here to see all posts about Goose), the green sea turtle, very closely and 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 photos below on the left you can see the antenna of the tag standing up straight as compared to the photo on the right where the tag is 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. There is a delay in uploading the data on seaturtle.org and I am too excited to wait so I have plotted a position from this morning's data. I have many more locations on this turtle, however the map becomes cluttered with too many plots.

Above is a Google Earth map of the release location, indicated with a yellow arrow, and a position from this morning, indicated by a yellow star (click on the map to enlarge). Goose is currently off the coast of Rhode Island oddly enough off the coast of Gooseberry Island!

-Connie

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Even Spiderman attended the sea turtle release!

2009-08-28T11:20:00.013-04:00

Thanks to the Aquarium's web team, you have already seen photos taken by others who attended our exciting sea turtle release. I was out on a boat all day yesterday working on a leatherback sea turtle research project (I'll blog on that adventure soon), and did not have a chance to blog. I assigned myself the role of photographer for the release. Below is the event through my lens (click on the photos to enlarge).

This event was so popular that even Spiderman took time out from his busy crime fighting schedule to watch the release! In all photos above Aquarium educators 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. The photo on the right is of a teacher who adopts a tagged turtle each year and then follows the animals' progress with her class--now that's science being brought right into the classroom.

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! The photo on the right is a green sea turtle we named Goose (read all the posts about him by clicking here). I attached a satellite transmitter to his shell so I can see how well Goose 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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Photos of the Sea Turtle Release

2009-08-27T10:56:00.019-04:00

On August 26, 2009, five rehabilitated sea turtles were released on Dowses Beach in Osterville, Massachusetts. In addition, a hybrid sea turtle named Simba (patient details here) 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.

Flip through this slide show to see more photos from the release taken by education staff member Vickie Cataldo and volunteer Casey Fredette.

Getting Ready to Say Good-Bye!

2009-08-14T10:00:00.003-04:00

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.

Preparing to tag

Iconel tag and tagging equipment

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!

So if these animals are found again, either on a beach nesting or by some other researcher, the numbers can be tracked and it will show that the turtle underwent rehabilitation here at the New England Aquarium.

Bubba gets measured one last time.

We also take measurements, photos, and a final weight of each turtle so we can track progression of the animal over the rehabilitation stay.

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.

~Adam and Kerry

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Three more turtles head back to the ocean.

2009-08-05T15:40:00.003-04:00

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 (above) which Riverhead renamed Atlas.

Here is the track for Herb (above).

Here is the track for Jupiter (above).

I have heard rumors that Santa, the last of the loggerheads which was sent to Riverhead, will be released very soon. Thank you to Riverhead for pictures of the released turtles!

-Adam