Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)
Stranding Location: North Myrtle Beach, SC
Arrival Date: 7/15/25
Age: Juvenile
Sex: Unknown
Weight: 4.27 kg (9.39 lbs)
Case History
This juvenile Kemps ridley sea turtle was spotted floating in the surf late at night in North Myrtle Beach. Shortly thereafter, s/he washed onto the shoreline and was rescued from the beach. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) was notified and a permitted volunteer was deployed to rescue the sea turtle. SCDNR assessed the patient’s condition and kept her/him safe before being transported to the Aquarium.
Treatment
Upon arrival, Dahlia was lethargic and reactive to touch. Due to how and where Dahlia was found, we were concerned that s/he may have drowned. We began with a radiograph to visualize the condition of Dahlia’s lungs — which were asymmetrical and appeared to have fluid in them. To get a deeper look, we moved Dahlia to our CT scanner to capture a high-definition view of the lungs and confirmed that both lungs had fluid and sand present in the airways. Combined with Dahlia’s bloodwork values, we began a course of treatment that included fluids, antibiotics and nebulization.
We placed Dahlia in water after her/his treatment and found that s/he had trouble swimming, even in very shallow depths. We placed Dahlia in a wet dock overnight so s/he could rest.
Updates
July 18, 2025: Dahlia has now been in our care for a few days, and while we have seen a couple small improvements, this patient is still extremely critical. We have observed more concerning swimming behaviors in the past few days when we have let Dahlia swim in water while supervised. S/he is tilting the head to the right, swimming in tight circles, has a lack of coordinated flipper movements and does not appear to see very well.
These behaviors could be associated with a drowning event, be caused by an underlying neurological condition or are symptomatic of a bacterial infection in Dahlia’s brain. To address some of these options, we started Dahlia on IV antibiotics and have placed her/him under quarantine to limit the spread of the possible infection to our other healthy patients.
We began offering Dahlia some food and s/he does not appear to see the pieces of fish but has eaten a few of the pieces she touched by accident. In addition, s/he has had difficulty recognizing and avoiding obstacles in her/his tank, indicating a vision deficiency.
We are monitoring Dahlia’s behavior closely and her/his prognosis is extremely guarded.
July 26, 2025: In the days following our last update, Dahlia continued to exhibit these concerning behaviors mentioned above. We reached out to a local veterinary ophthalmologist we have worked with before — Dr. Cook of Animal Eye Care Associates — who performed a thorough eye exam to determine if Dahlia was blind. The results of this exam revealed that the physical structures of Dahlia’s eyes were healthy and normal, but Dr. Cook determined that Dahlia’s eyes and brain were not communicating as they should. This confirmed our suspicions that Dahlia had neurological problems impacting her/his health and quality of life.
As Dahlia’s condition and quality of life continued to decline, we concluded that the best course of action was humane euthanasia. Despite this unfortunate outcome, we want to learn everything we can about this patient so we can better treat sea turtles that present with similar symptoms in the future. We conducted a necropsy alongside SCDNR and what we discovered was consistent with our suspicions.
Dahlia was an incredibly sick sea turtle. We found abnormalities in practically all organs of the body including the lungs, kidneys, liver, heart, musculature, intestines and the brain. We collected samples to test for underlying causes, such as bacteria or parasites, which were sent to one of the leading sea turtle pathologists. We are hopeful to learn more about Dahlia’s case so we can apply that knowledge for future patients.