Green (Chelonia mydas)

Stranding Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Arrival Date: 4/10/26
Age: Juvenile
Sex: Unknown
Weight: 2.85 kg (6.27 lbs)

Case History

This juvenile green sea turtle washed ashore lethargic, underweight and covered in epibiota in Myrtle Beach. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) permitted volunteers responded and transported this patient to the Aquarium for rehabilitation.

Treatment

Upon arrival, Pesto was weak but responsive and lifting her/his head well to take breaths. With the large amount of sand and barnacles on Pesto’s shell, the radiographs were difficult to read, but what we could see indicates a possibility of pneumonia. Once Pesto is stronger, we will schedule a CT scan. We administered antibiotics, fluids and vitamins to combat infection, rehydrate Pesto and balance her/his bloodwork values. Pesto’s eye exam revealed corneal lesions on both eyes, so we prescribed ophthalmic drops to treat those as well. With Pesto’s general weakness and low body temperature — about 10 degrees cooler than the tank temperatures — we determined it would be safest to place Pesto in a dry holding container overnight (commonly called “dry dock”).

Updates

April 11, 2026: After resting overnight in dry dock, we rechecked Pesto’s bloodwork and the glucose levels had dropped — meaning that Pesto had low blood sugar. To address this, we gave a combination of subcutaneous and intravenous (IV) fluids with dextrose (sugar). After giving Pesto some more time to rest and time to absorb the fluids, we decided to place her/him in a shallow kiddie pool in a tank in Zucker Family Sea Turtle Recovery™! During this swim test, we were able to remove a large amount of the sand, algae and even gooseneck barnacles from Pesto’s shell! After about an hour of swimming, Pesto began to tire so we pulled her/him from the tank to recheck the glucose level before the end of the day. Thankfully, Pesto’s blood sugar levels were holding stable but to be safe and to avoid overexertion, we decided to dry dock Pesto overnight. We will continue to recheck bloodwork regularly over the next few days to monitor her/his glucose levels and address them accordingly. We will also test Pesto in deeper water again and hopefully begin to offer small amounts of food! Fingers crossed for this new green sea turtle patient!