Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)

Stranding Location: Barnstable, MAArrival Date: 12/10/2014Age: JuvenileWeight: 1.98 kg

Case History

Boston is one of four sea turtles transferred from the New England Aquarium (NEAq) to the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital on December 10, 2014. This was the second group of cold stuns admitted into the hospital this winter, bringing the total transferred to 19. This Kemp’s ridley was one of more than a thousand sea turtles afflicted with severe hypothermia and recovered (alive or dead) from the beaches and nearshore waters of Massachusetts during an unprecedented cold-stunning event in late November 2014. Thanks to the generosity of a private flight donated by Chaz Harris, we are proud to be one of more than 17 facilities nationwide to aid NEAq in caring for the massive number of threatened and endangered sea turtles stranded due to this cold-stunning eventBoston was stabilized and started on antibiotics by the team at NEAq after being found on Truro beach at high tide November 23rd. Right after being rescued off the beach, this ridley proved to be a fighter exhibiting feisty behavior allowing for supervised swim time. Boston was in great shape upon arrival to our hospital December 10th, and we were able to place him in a filtered tank of water after he received a physical exam and radiographs from our vet. Prognosis is good.Boston continues to improve while in our care and is now finished with all antibiotic treatments. We will start evaluating for release very soon!

Release Date

February 10, 2015

Release Location

Cape Canaveral National Seashore