Coast Guard and the Kemp's Ridley

Jennifer and I got called in to work last night about 5:30 -- the coast guard in Pensacola had an injured Kemp's Ridley sea turtle at their station. Given the holiday, no marine aquarium staff were around and the stranding team didn't want to respond, so Jennifer and I ran over to pick up the turtle and nurse it through the night.



After we finished bandaging her front flippers to try to slow the bleeding, we brought her back to the park. She spent the night in our shower, nestled in a harsh Coast Guard wool blanket. She must have been sick for awhile, given the amount of barnacles covering her carapace.



After a long night at the office, we drove her to Destin, Florida this morning. The staff at the Gulfarium were expecting her, but had no idea her injuries were so severe. I'm sure she'll do well under their care...

While we were there, we checked on the green turtle, Clover, we took to the Gulfarium in June. She has two dislocated hips and a broken pelvis, but they don't know if surgery will work at this point. It would be great to release her as we need more nesting greens on the beach, but she may never be able to dive and feed herself without the use of her rear flippers. She was so much chubbier than when we dropped her off, and her shell sparkled in the early morning light. It's great to see she's doing so well!