Patient Update: June 28th

Patient Update: June 28th

Seals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles “Charlie”-Charlie continues to do well and is excelling with fish school and assist feeding. We are now seeing him eat in the water with minimal assistance; he has almost reached the final goal of eating on his own in the water! We have noticed inflammation on his rear flippers so our staff members did biopsy punches to determine that cause of it. He is also still receiving Terramycin to treat the lesions on his eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parker-Parker is also excelling with fish school and we have noticed her eating in the water with minimal assistance as well! After being moved into a Pod with Charlie so that they can swim in slightly deeper water and practice hauling out, we are happy to say that Parker has passed her haul out test! This means she is able to pull herself out of the water and on to the platform without any issues! This is a very exciting step in her rehabilitation and it is an excellent indication that she is building muscles and developing as a healthy seal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar-Sugar has also passed her haul out test while she was in the Pod! We are very excited about how well she is advancing! We have started transitioning her to fish gruel this week so that her body can learn how to digest fish properly. We are still treating the lesion on her right cornea with Terramycin to prevent it from getting worse. She is also enjoying the company of her new roommate Cat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piscataqua “Cat”-Cat is continuing to do very well. She is also being transitioned to fish gruel this week and we have noticed that she is beginning to gain weight! Since Cat was in a Pod by herself since she first arrived for rehabilitation, we were worried she would develop behavioral issues by being alone. So staff decided to give her a roommate so that she can learn how to interact with other seals and possibly learn some behaviors from her roommate. Sugar was placed with her and they were both moved into Dry Holding. Cat is still adjusting to having a roommate but things are going well so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jones-Jones was placed in the ICU on Saturday after he was seemingly flat and lethargic. It was also determined that his sodium levels were quite low.  He was treated with fluids and oral supplements, and after a couple days his behavior improved and he has become more alert. He was able to rejoin his roommate Sugar, and his new roommate Cat, in Dry Holding. We are still performing routine blood tests in order to monitor his conditions and his ocular lesions are resolving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nemasket “Nemi”-Nemi also started the transition to fish gruel this week and he is handling it very well. He is still battling the condition of his left eye, but it seems to be getting better and we are continuing treatment with Terramycin on a routine basis. Nemmy continue to enjoy the company of his roommates and he is doing very well during swim time this week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magalloway “Maggie”-Maggie’s right eye has worsened and we have noticed that it is fully opac at this time. Our vet has decided to try a new eye medicine, a saline ointment, to help clear it up. We are hoping to see improvements in the near future. She is also being transitioned to fish gruel and is doing well with it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allagash “Allie”-Allie is doing well this week but she still has bilateral ulcers in her eyes. We are continuing treatment on her eyes with Terramycin and we are monitoring them closely. We have also noticed her sneezing more this week and we are watching to ensure she does not develop something serious. Allie still enjoys the company of her roommates and we are working with her during swim time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moose-Moose is showing some respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, and hacking throughout the day. We are monitoring him closely to prevent these symptoms from worsening. He also has bilateral discharge from his eyes but we have not noticed any lesions thus far. We are treating his eyes with Terramycin to help with the discharge. He is transitioning to fish gruel and is loving his swim time; he is doing very well with both!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicopee-Chicopee was in the ICU as of last week, with a total of five days. She made good progress while she was in there and she was stable enough to be taken out this past Saturday. She has since rejoined her roommates in the pup room. Her prognosis is still very guarded, as she is still battling a severe respiratory infection. Unfortunately, she has been suffering from a severe ocular lesion in her right eye that will likely leave her permanently blind. We are still treating that eye with Terramycin in the hopes of making this process easier for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear-Bear is still doing very well and we have not noticed any changes in her health since she was admitted last week. She still enjoys the company of her roommate, Andy, and they have both been moved out of the Pup Room and into a Pod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Androscoggin “Andy”-Andy has been started on antibiotics since he arrived due to nasal discharge and a potential respiratory infection. He also had some blood in his stool this past week so we are checking him to see if he has colitis, or an inflammation of the colon. As stated last week, he does have oral ulcers, which are a potential sign for Phocine Herpes Virus 1. We are monitoring his closely due to all these conditions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neponset-Sadly, on Thursday, June 28^th, our newest seal Neponset passed away. He was a male harbor seal weanling, most likely freshly weaned, in which he was no longer dependent on his mom. He was rescued on Saturday, June 24^th, by New England Aquarium, and was brought to NMLC for rehabilitation. When he first arrived he was extremely emaciated and suffering from a severely infected and swollen front flipper from puncture wounds of an unknown origin.

While he was at NMLC he was battling severe bouts of low sodium and low glucose levels. Medications and treatments did not seem to help, as the bouts kept occurring and worsening his condition. He passed away overnight and the necropsy exam revealed a significant infection of his right front flipper that likely lead to septicemia. It also revealed that his blubber layer was extremely thin and there were parasites in his stomach. Unfortunately, the combination of all these symptoms were too much for him to overcome.

 

Turtles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gunst, Etta, Bruiser-There have been no changes with our Kemp’s Ridley’s in house. However, we are pleased to announce that three of our turtles were released on Monday, June 25th! Brewster, Biddeford, and Big Daddy were released by the National Aquarium in Ocean City, Maryland. We are very excited to celebrate three more successful releases of our turtles!

 

 

Posted by Gabriella N. 

Gabriella is a second semester intern who recently graduated from Roger Williams University with a degree in Marine Biology.