Check up
As the days get warmer, so too does the ocean water temperatures. In turn, that means that some of the sea turtles that have been in rehabilitation over the winter months may be fit for release off the beach in the near future. At the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail Beach, NC, more than a dozen rescued turtles are on the list of potential releases. Each turtle has to be carefully evaluated for general health and specific criteria have to be met prior to release. Last week, we were in Topsail along with wildlife veterinarian Dr. Greg Lewbart, some other researchers from the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, and several hospital volunteers. Each turtle was weighed, measured and had blood drawn for laboratory analysis (see above photo). After this, Wendy and I had the task of measuring and giving each turtle flipper and PIT tags. It seems like each time I do this with Wendy, she gets faster and faster. When I downloaded my photos, I realized that I finally had photographic proof that Wendy moves almost at the speed of light:
The sampling, measuring and tagging over, now all that remains is to wait for the results to see which turtles make the list for release in a few weeks. We hope it will be as many as possible, not only so the turtles can get back to the wild but also to free up some room for the next anticipated group of injured turtles that are found each summer in NC.
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An update, Matthew! 14 turtles made it through their final physicals and were released today (June 8, 2005). It was a beautiful day for them and for us. Each turtle has a special story but we were especially happy for Casper (Cc). After a diagnosis of an FP mouth tumor at the edge of the glottis and the removal of that tumor 18 months ago, she passed all of the scans, radiographs and examinations at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine last week and no evidence of further tumors was found. One of the people who assisted her to the water (once there she knew what to do!) was Dean Warwick Arden, the new Dean of the Vet School. This number included 7 Cc, 3 Lk, and 3 Cm. Four of the turtles, Obie, Atlantic, Shinn, and Bogue, were fitted with satellite tags in a cooperative effort of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (Joanne Harcke), the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center. Now we are waiting for them to call home!
Posted by: Jean Beasley | June 9, 2005 04:26 AM