Our new Diamondback Terrapian patient NMLC -11-001-TMT

Today we welcomed a new addition to the National Marine Life Center! NMLC11-001-TMT is a Diamondback Terrapin  (Malaclemys terrapin) who was found trapped in a window well in Wellfleet, MA on October 20th 2010. Upon discovery  she was determined to be too emaciated and dehydrated to survive brumation. She was transported to Tufts Wildlife Clinic for immediate medical care where she was treated and resided, until today.

White fungal lesions on Catch-22's carapace.

“Catch-22″ is a Northern red-bellied cooter, an endangered species of fresh-water turtle native to Massachusetts.  NMLC is a partner with MassWildlife in their efforts to restore the species.  We admitted Catch in June because of white lesions on his carapace.  Through testing, we’ve identified the lesions as a fungal infection but three different diagnostic laboratories disagree as to the type of fungus.  So far, the infection hasn’t responded to treatment so we can’t release Catch back into the wild this year.  As we now will be keeping Catch over the winter, we’ve moved him to a larger tank.

Catch has outgrown his tank!

Many thanks to volunteers Wendy and Linda who worked hard to clean up and set up this new, donated tank!  Catch seems very pleased with his new digs.

To follow Catch’s progress, read the latest Rounds Notes by NMLC Veterinarian Dr. Rogers Williams.

Linda & Wendy set up Catch's new tank.

To donate to Catch’s recovery, click here.

Patty seems to be enjoying the deeper water of her tank.  She explores more and likes to rest on the rocks.

You can visit Patty and see her progress.  NMLC’s Marine Animal Discovery Center is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm throughout the summer.  Click here for directions.  Click here to make a donation to help Patty and other animals in need.

Patty’s favorite food right now is quahogs.  As you can see in the video, she attacks them with a vengeance!  She will also eat clams… once in awhile!  (She can be rather picky.)  Once when we were out of clams and quahogs we tried feeding her scallops and she seemed to like those as well.

Bon appetit, Patty!

P.S. – If you dig for clams and quahogs and have any to spare, Patty would sure like them!  Drop them by any weekday at the National Marine Life Center, 120 Main Street, Buzzards Bay.  Thanks!

(c) SeaPics

You are what you eat!

And in the case of green sea turtles, literally.  While green turtle hatchlings eat a mixture of aquatic insects, worms, and plants, adults are exclusively herbivorous and feed on seagrasses and algae.

(c) SeaPics

Natural history

Green sea turtles inhabit tropical regions throughout the world.  Adult females come ashore to nest as many as five times during the nesting season, laying an average of 135 eggs per nest.  Eggs incubate for two months.  Once they hatch, the tiny hatchlings run a gauntlet of land predators before reaching the comparative safety of the ocean.  They spend several years in the open ocean feeding on plants and animals near the surface.  As juveniles, the turtles begin to forage closer to the coastline and gradually move to a vegetarian diet.  As turtles grow to adulthood, they begin mating and laying nests of their own around 20 years of age.  Green sea turtles can live longer than 50 years.

Juvenile green sea turtle released back into the ocean. Photo by Mendy Garron, NOAA.

Stranding and rehabilitation in Massachusetts

While Kemp’s ridleys are the most common sea turtle to strand on Cape Cod, each year we see several green turtles as well.  The animals are juveniles, most less than one foot long and most weighing less than fifteen pounds.  The primary reason for stranding in our area is cold-stunning – or severe hypothermia – caused when the cold-blooded animals become trapped in Cape Cod Bay and can’t swim south for the winter.  Thankfully, volunteers from MassAudubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary patrol the beaches every fall looking for stranded turtles.  The New England Aquarium receives the stranded turtles and performs emergency care.  When they are full, partner organizations such as the National Marine Life Center step in to accept animals and complete the rehabilitation process.  The effects of cold-stunning are complex and long-lasting, and many turtles must remain in care for 6-24 months before being released.

(c) Alejandro Fallabrino, Karumbe Photos

Conservation and how YOU can help!

Green turtles are endangered worldwide.  Threats include entanglement in fishing gear and ingestion of marine debris.  You can help by only consuming seafood that was fished sustainably with “turtle excluder devices” or TEDs.  (TEDs are mandatory in the U.S.)  Participate in beach cleanups and dispose of your own trash responsibly.  And, if you see a sick or injured sea turtle on the beach, report it to an authorized wildlife response agency as quickly as possible.

For more information

~ Click Here for the NOAA Office of Protected Species fact sheet on green sea turtles.
~ Click Here for a NOAA fact sheet geared towards kids.
~ Click Here for the NOAA sea turtle stranding and salvage network.

Green Sea Turtle in the Caribbean, by Don “The Turtle Guy” Lewis

Today was my second day at the National Marine Life Center.  Today I watched as the veterinarians and workers did another check up on Patty.  The reason they do so many checkups on Patty is because she is a very sick turtle.  She has a strange and rare shell disease that is basically no blood is circulating to her shell so it has almost completely fallen off.  Only two other turtles in all the literature and records, of at least the U.S., have ever been diagnosed with this and they were both box turtles.  All that’s left is a few pieces of shell and a hard pink membrane which they call a pseudo-shell.  It looks just like skin but is almost as hard as a shell.  They believe that a new shell is growing under the pseudo-shell.  When Patty was first found she had almost been frozen to death.  When the National Marine Life Center got her she had no use of her hind legs and she was basically blind with her eyes filling up with blood.  Since she has been there she has regained her sight and her leg use, but after having her for a few months they began to notice that her shell was falling off.  In a few weeks it went from a full shell to what it is now.  During her check up today they did the usual, weigh her, etc.  Also they had to pump the feces out of her by putting a tube up her anus and pumping water up there to clean her out.  It was fairly disgusting.  But they did notice however that in her tank was some solid feces which is a good thing because she has had trouble going to the bathroom for a while.  After that I helped clean out her tank with another one of the volunteers.  Then I was asked to help out with Patty’s tubing.  This is when you stick a tube down the turtle’s throat to give her medicine.  Patty did not like that at all.  I was the one who held Patty up right and held her front legs down, another volunteer held her head steady, and Joanne Nicholson put the tube down her throat.  Once the tube was down her throat she stopped fighting us, probably out of shock.  Then Joanne asked me to hold her up right for five minutes so she wouldn’t regurgitate the medicine.  While holding her I accidentally knocked a piece of her shell that was ready to fall off, but I still felt bad because it began to bleed a little.  Once I put her down we rubbed burn creams and skin creams on her to soothe her back (not because of the shell I knocked off but because of her disease).  Then Joanne talked to me a little bit about what the internship would be about and what I would be doing.  While she did this she showed me around and explained everything.  I volunteered 3 hours today.

Editor’s note: Frank Reske, III is a freshman at Unity College in Maine. His major is Captive Wildlife Care and Education. Frank volunteered at the National Marine Life Center over his spring break as part of a community service project for school. He has also applied to be a summer intern at NMLC. This is part 2 of 3 journal entries he wrote as part of his spring break project.

There is a new shell forming under the pink tissue we call the pseudo-shell, this is good news but at this point the new shell is not uniform or sturdy enough to adequately protect Patty.  In fact a large part of what makes a turtle shell protective is the hard covering of the shell which is made of keratin (like our hair and nails), and we have not seen evidence of new growth for this layer, yet.

Additional findings will be made available in Rounds Notes, but in the meantime Patty continues to eat well and as soon as the last dead bone comes off we can take her off antibiotics.  As we approach the one year mark for her rehabilitation it’s also a good time to reflect on the positive effect we’ve had with Patty.  Her back legs are much stronger and she is able to move around her tank.  Her eye’s have cleared and she can see and find food.  She has survived the loss of her shell and we have evidence of new shell growth.  We are also learning about the regenerative properties of turtles in general, so indeed Patty has had a lot to teach us.