Saturday, November 14, 2009

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

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.



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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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The tiny world of marine animal diagnostics

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


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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

How many biologists does it take to treat a loggerhead?

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!



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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

What's in a name - the rescued turtle debate

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.

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

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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Saturday, October 17, 2009

How do you like your calamari? Acadia lets us know her preference!

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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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Acadia makes a big splash!

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


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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Update on our new patient, Acadia

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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Monday, October 12, 2009

The new turtle season starts BIG!

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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