Turtle Hospital  

Grade Level: 6^th – 12^th grade

Connection to other subjects: Biology, Environmental Science

Learning Objectives:  Students will learn how the rescue and rehabilitation of stranded and injured sea turtles impact a species survival.

Materials:

          Turtle Hospital biographies

Teaching Time: 45 minutes

Vocabulary:

injury	parasites
stranding	infection
impact	antibiotics
rehabilitation	predation
monofilament	carapace
plastron

 

Background: 

          Marine turtles are frequently injured in the wild.  Some injuries occur when they become entangled in monofilament lines that are discarded into the marine ecosystem. In some cases the entanglement is not severe but in others marine turtles can loose flippers or ultimately, their lives.  Few sea turtles are able adapt to life when they have sustained multiple flipper loss as this will often cause difficulty swimming or surfacing for air.

          Predator related injuries are mostly observed in juvenile and sub-adults. Such injuries are usually caused by small sharks.  The wounds sustained during predation are usually jagged and torn.  Some turtles unfortunately die due to the loss of blood caused by these injuries.  The carcass is eventually carried on shore with the incoming tide.  

          One of the least observed causes of marine turtle stranding is due to viral or parasitic infections.  Parasites can affect the turtle’s blood quality resulting in low red blood cells and high white cell counts. A de-wormer is given to a turtle with parasites through the mouth and the turtle is monitored for a few weeks. If the turtle receives a clean bill of health after a second blood analysis it is released back into the wild.

          A successful recovery does not always mean that the animal can be released. Unfortunately for some of our rehab animals, their injuries do not guarantee survival in the wild. Those that cannot be released become education animals and are sent to zoos, aquaria, and other marine facilities.

Procedures:

Read the following biographies and encourage your students to come up with some ideas that would help reduce the number of marine turtle strandings.  Consider injuries that can be prevented in your assessment.

Closure:

Students can discuss their ideas with the class.

Turtle Hospital

Name:  Allison

Species:  Atlantic Green Sea Turtle

Age:   1-2 years old

Allison stranded June 6^th, 2005 after having been attacked by a small shark. She had exposed bone and a series of bite marks on both her carapace and plastron. When Allison healed from her wounds her next task was to adapt to her disability by learning to swim with just one flipper. After months of hard work and much TLC she now spends most of her day swimming in deeper water.  Allison will eventually be fitted with prosthetic flippers.

Name: Renee

Species: Atlantic Green Sea Turtle

Age: 4-5 years old

  

Renee stranded on October 1^st, 2005 entangled in a discarded monofilament net. Unfortunately for Renee, the loss of circulation to the left front flipper was so severe that it caused swelling which ultimately necessitated the amputation of the flipper.  Renee will be released spring 2006.

Name: Magumbi

Species: Atlantic Green Sea Turtle

Age: 4-5 years old

Magumbi stranded on August 23^rd, 2005 after becoming entangled in a discarded monofilament net.  Magumbi has three scars remaining from its entanglement, one located at the base of the neck and the other two on each of the front flippers. Magumbi has healed from these wounds and release is set for spring 2006.

Name: Patti

Species: Hawksbill

Age: 4-5 years old

Patti stranded October 16^th, 2005 with over 50% of the body covered in barnacles. This juvenile has scars on both rear flippers, and is missing its right front flipper which is likely due to a predator attack.  Patti was placed in fresh water in order to kill the barnacles attached to the carapace and plastron. Barnacles cannot survive in fresh water and fall off within a few days without having to be scraped off.

Scraping could damage the keratin layer protecting the shell.  Patti is considered a non-releasable because of the amount of flipper loss she suffered.

Name: Precious

Species: Atlantic Green

Age: 4-5 years old

        Precious stranded September 14^th 2005. There were no external wounds on the body so in order to discover the cause of stranding a small sample of blood was taken and sent for analysis. Blood analysis often can tell what is going on inside the turtle’s body. If there is an infection the blood will show it. Finding no evidence of infection in her blood Precious was tagged with a metal and pit tag and then released October 25^th.

Name: Concha

Species: Hawksbill

Age: 1-2 years old

Concha is a Hawksbill which had the most severe head wound we have seen for a long time. When it stranded on September 11^th there was a large fracture directly over the right side of the head. The left eye was punctured and had shriveled into the eye socket. Concha developed other complications due to the head injury. It was observed that this turtle did not extensively use her left front flipper, which could be related to the head injury. Within the first week of her arrival we observed that Concha could not find the food we dropped into the pool. This indicated that Concha might be blind. Two local optomologists checked out the remaining eye and noticed that there was a large cataract that was obstructing the eye. Concha will not be released because of her blindness.

Name: Fred

Species: Loggerhead

Age: 18-20 years old

        Fred the loggerhead stranded November 17^th 1996 with an injured left front flipper. He was rehabilitated and at 49 lbs. was released on October 30, 1999. After 8 days in the wild Fred stranded again on north Padre Island. On Thanksgiving weekend of 2000 he became a permanent member of the Sea Turtle Inc. turtle family.  In 2005 Fred was weighed during a routine tank to tank transfer and now tips the scale at a hefty 209 pounds! Fred enjoys a good back scratch and long naps.  Fred will remain in captivity because of his inability to swim in deep water.

Name: Merry Christmas

Species: Atlantic Green Sea Turtle

Age: 20-25 years old

        Merry Christmas is one of the two remaining “old timers” at Sea Turtle Inc. All that is known of her origins is that she stranded on South Padre Island on Christmas Eve and was rescued by the “Turtle Lady” herself, Ila Loetscher.  Merry Christmas was a beloved favorite of Ila’s and was said to be her smartest turtle. She is considered a non-releasable animal because she has been in captivity and around humans too long to be successful in the wild. A secondary reason is that she was born with obvious physical defects which could be passed on to her offspring if she were ever to mate.

Name: Gerry

Species: Atlantic Green Sea Turtle

Age: 24 years old

In 1984 Gerry made his first major public appearance on “Late Night” with David Letterman and later that same year on Thanksgiving eve on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

 Gerry made many other appearances on television helping to promote sea turtle conservation. While at home with Ila, Gerry was part of the “Meet the Turtle Show”. Ila’s philosophy behind dressing Gerry up for a show was that in order to effect any change for the future conservation of sea turtles children had to fall in love with them. What better gimmick to get kids to love turtles than to dress them up in a cute outfit.  Those children that visited Ila and Gerry have now grown up. They are the teachers, business people, scientists, and legislators that Ila had predicted they would be come. They continue to visit Sea Turtle Inc. because of Ila and Gerry’s work.  They bring with them their children and grandchildren.   

Name:  Scooter

Species: Kemp’s ridley

Age: 18-20

        Scooter stranded November 18, 2000.  When he arrived at Sea Turtle Inc., Scooter had what appeared to be tar on the side of his face. He was missing his left front flipper and his right rear flipper. The injuries were healed and appeared to have been predator related. Scooter is very special because he is one of only 13 captive Kemp’s found in the U.S.  He is quite special in other ways too. For one he is our V.I.T. (Very Important Turtle) and he acts like it too. To say the least he is spoiled rotted.

Name: Spunky

Species: Atlantic Green Sea Turtle

Age: 10 years old

        Spunky stranded September 2001 with a severe carapace fracture.  Spunky is still immature so its gender cannot be determined. What we do know is that the injury was caused by an impact with a motor boat. The spinal cord was nicked and has resulted in partial paralysis.  In order to give Spunky a normal swim angle a lead weight had to be attached to its carapace. Spunky will not be released because the weight will eventually fall off and the lack of buoyancy control would limit survival in the wild.

Name: Josh

Species: Loggerhead

Age: 3-4 years

        Josh stranded April 29, 2004 and weighed 1 pound. Josh had recently been attacked by a predator. He lost half of the primary left flipper, was missing the right eye, and had a small bit taken out of his carapace. Josh currently weighs 15 pounds and is a permanent resident at Sea Turtle Inc. He is considered a non releasable because of his missing eye.

Name: Pepe

Species: Atlantic Green

Age: 3-4 years       

Pepe stranded on November 1, 2005.  Plastics in the form of nets, fishing line, latex balloons, and bags are harmful to marine life. Turtles are not able to distinguish between food and trash in the water. Pepe was no exception. Latex balloons are often confused by wildlife as something tasty to eat.