The world according to me....

How do you know when a turtle is ready to be released after rehabilitation? For starters, the caregivers of the rehabilitation center usually have a good feel for the state of their charges, as they spend several hours each day with the turtles during their recuperation. Also, you can ask a wildlife veterinarian (or two) to weigh in with advice. Each year, the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island successfully rehabilitates dozens of sick and injured sea turtles. Afinal step in rehabilitation prior to release is undergoing a final "physical" administered by wildlife veterinarians. The final physical involves a visual inspection, weighing and measuring (and tagging while we are at it), collecting blood for lab analyses, etc. This kind of work is also a good opportunity for vet students and residents to increase their experience working with marine reptiles, so there is usually a full house at the Topsail Turtle Hospital on Pre-release day. To make matters more complicated, I brought along my digital voice recorder and cajoled both Wendy and Craig to give brief comments on what the day is like. You can listen to their comments here. The final results of this particular Pre-release day was that 6 turtles were deemed fully rehabilitated. They were released into the surf on Topsail Beach in late September (you can see a video of this here). Their release means that six places at the Topsail Turtle Hospital have been freed up for future sick or injured turtles that are found in North Carolina and elsewhere. I imagine that it won't be long before those free tanks are filled up again.