Patient Update: April 19th

Patient Update: April 19, 2018

SEALS:

Saco – Saco is our male gray seal weanling that was brought to us by our friends at Seacoast Science Center. You may have seen him all over the news – he is the seal that was found in the parking lot of  Brown’s Lobster Pound in Seabrook, NH. Since being in rehab here with us, Saco has shown significant improvements! He came to us in critical condition and extremely weak and malnourished. He is now eating on his own and getting pool time during the day to build up his strength. He recently passed his pre-release exam too so stay tuned for updates on his release!

Pemigewasset “Pemi” – Pemi is our small but feisty female gray seal weanling who was brought to us by our friends at Seacoast Science Center after stranding in Seabrook, NH (less than 1 mile away from Saco!). She came in with a respiratory infection, underweight and battling parasites. She received treatments for her respiratory infection and she also received antiparasitic medicines for her parasites that have now cleared up. She is eating on her own and now just needs to gain some weight and build up her strength!

Mill “Millie”– Millie is a the gray seal weanling that came to us with severe shark bite wounds, anemia (low red blood cell count) due to her wounds, pneumonia and parasites. She is slowly showing progress in rehab here at NMLC. She came to us on March 29^th after being rescued by our friends at NOAA Fisheries New England/Mid Atlantic and Seacoast Science Center. She was in extremely critical condition when she first arrived, but she is now much more alert and has even started eating fish on her own! She is also very vocal and feisty (which is a good thing!). Millie gets her wounds cleaned frequently to prevent infection and promote healing. She loves swimming in her pool and isn’t shy about letting us know when she’s getting hungry.

Mystic – Mystic is a juvenile harp seal that was brought to us by our friends at IFAW after stranding in Chatham, MA. She came to us extremely dehydrated with a large, infected wound on her back. She has been rehydrated and the large wound on her back has almost completely healed up! During her time in rehabilitation we discovered she was also suffering from an ear infection in her right ear. We have been treating her with antibiotics and monitoring her condition by conducting routine radiographs. She is eating on her own and fattening up in preparation to return to the ocean.

Kennebec “Kenny” – Kenny is our other juvenile harp seal here in rehab. He was brought to us by our friends at Marine Mammals of Maine after he stranded in Ogonquit, ME. Kenny came to us with symptoms of pneumonia, parasites, hair loss, sunburn (due to his hair loss) and dehydration. Kenny received fluids to rehydrate and has been treated with antibiotics and anitparisitic medication since being with us. He’s looking healthy and eating fish on his own. Kenny has even been approved for release! Stay tuned for details on his release.

TURTLES:

Gunst -Gunst has been with us since December 2015 and has more than quadrupled in size since then! He has made great improvements in rehab but he still isn’t using one of his front flippers due to osteolytic lesions in his bones, a complication of cold-stunning. Because of this, our veterinarians want to hold him back a little bit longer for more surgery, treatment, and physical therapy.

“New” Turtles (Kemp’s ridleys from November 2017 cold stunning event) – As you may have seen in previous posts, we received thirty Kemp’s ridley sea turtles this November after this year’s cold stunning event on Cape Cod.  On February 18^th, fourteen of those thirty turtles were sent south for release. The local waters are too cold for sea turtles in February – so they were driven to Maryland, where they spent a few days at the National Aquarium, and they were then driven to Canaveral National Seashore in Florida where they were released on February 21^st. On April 15th, we brought another fourteen down to the National Aquarium. Three of those fourteen turtles will be staying at the National Aquarium for further rehabilitation. The other eleven were driven down Little Talbot Island, Florida where they were released on April 18th. We now only have two of those original thirty Kemp’s in our care, so you could say this cold stunning season has been a success!

Posted by Michaela W.
Michaela is second semester intern who recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Marine Biology.