Patient Update November 7th

Patient Update November 7th

Seals:

Jones

Jones has done very well in DJF, one of our larger seal tanks. As a result of the spread of the Unusual Mortality Event down as far south as Virginia, we were no longer able to release these healthy animals without further intervention. We vaccinated our three seal patients against Phocine Distemper Virus (PDV), and they will receive a booster shot for this in a few weeks’ time, after which they will be ready for release! Jones specifically has done well, and has shown very few signs of continued ear infection over the past few weeks.

Bear

After the opacity in Bear’s right eye worsened, our team decided to perform the same treatment that was given to Sugar. One of the membranes on her eyelid was stitched Those who are interested more in this procedure can check out our blog post on Sugar’s surgery here. Regarding Bear’s ear infection, she has not shown any signs of an active ear infection and we are hopeful that the infection is healing well! We will place satellite tags on both Bear and Jones due to their ear infections to track their diving abilities and monitor their locations.

Sugar

Sugar is doing incredibly well with significant health changes. After receiving a minor procedure to help stimulate the growth of healthy tissue in her eye, she is no longer squinting her eye at all! She has enjoyed swimming in our larger tanks, and really enjoys our environmental enrichment devices! Here at NMLC, we have numerous devices that simulate the wild, ranging from vegetation to buoys, and Sugar seems to really enjoy interacting with them!

Turtles:

Etta

Etta has recovered nicely from her shoulder surgery that she received on October 25th at New England Aquarium, and has made a lot of progress in her rehabilitation! The other day she was transferred from the isolation tank back into one of our larger sea turtle tanks! Although somewhat skeptical at first, she has since made this tank her home, and has received some of her favorite foods, such as crabs and squid! We will continue to watch her closely as she still needs numerous medications and treatments following her surgery, but some of our volunteers have noted that she seems to be using her left front flipper more and more!

Posted by Grant M.

Grant is a second semester intern who recently graduated from Roger Williams University with degrees in Biology and Chemistry.