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Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Stranding Location: Myrtle Beach State Park, South Carolina
Arrival Date: 5/14/2021
Age: Juvenile
Weight: 4.8 kg (10.5 lbs)
Case History
Druzy was caught by a fisher in Myrtle Beach State Park. The fisher called the state park staff to help them out with the turtle. State park staff responded and after evaluating the turtle they called the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). SCDNR sent a responder out for transport for the turtle to the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Care Center for treatment. After several hours of activity, Druzy finally arrived at the Care Center around 6:50 p.m.
Treatment
Druzy had been hooked by a fisher, but the hook was only in the front, left flipper instead of the mouth. There was a small wound on the flipper where the hook had been indicating it had been removed at the beach. Druzy also had a lot of epibiota and an older wound of unknown origin on his plastron. In addition to all of that, Druzy had a few ulcers on his other flippers and on his carapace. Overall, Druzy’s bloodwork was not too bad, so we gave him antibiotics, vitamins, fluids and then let him rest in a shallow tank of water overnight.
Update
5/21/21: Druzy is doing much better now. He is brighter and more alert. He has been eating small amounts of fish and veggies and is defecating a little bit almost daily. There isn’t much more we could ask for! He definitely has a lot of epibiota left on his carapace and the keratin beneath the barnacles is soft and damaged, so we are being very careful while handling him. We are slowly increasing his diet and tank water level, as long as he is handling it okay.
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