Kemp’s Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)
Stranding Location: Edisto Beach, SC
Arrival Date: 6/6/24
Age: Juvenile
Sex: Unknown
Weight: 1.78 kg (3.9 lbs)
Case History
This tiny turtle was caught by a fisherman and the hook was deeply embedded in the mouth. Thanks to South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for transporting Scone to the Aquarium for removal and further treatment.
Treatment
When Scone arrived, s/he was very active! The hook caught in the mouth was attached to metal gear that Scone was actively grinding her/his beak against. Because of this, we wanted to start hook removal as soon as possible, as long as the bloodwork looked good. Luckily the values were in good shape, so we took a radiograph to get a clear image of where the hook was located. Scone was then sedated and we began to remove the hook. This hook was embedded completely through the tongue and caught on the hyoid, a bony structure in the throat. With some careful maneuvering, our veterinary care team was successfully able to remove the hook! Following this procedure, Scone recovered well and was extremely active, so we swim-tested her/him in a shallow tank and it went great! Scone was doing so well that we felt comfortable leaving her/him in the tank overnight.
Updates
June 11, 2024: Since admit, Scone has begun defecating consistently and eating! These are both important benchmarks for our patients.
July 15, 2024: Scone continues to eat and defecate consistently, but did start showing some signs of being a picky eater this month. Scone seems to be avoiding the tail pieces of the fish we cut up for her/him. However, this food aversion only lasted a week! Since Scone is doing so well, s/he was moved upstairs to Zucker Family Sea Turtle Recovery™. Scone’s new tankmates are also juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtle who were hooked by fisherman. We are admitting many hooked sea turtles this year and generally they are otherwise healthy. To make space for newer and more critical patients, we are able to divide certain tanks to house multiple of these healthier patients. You might even hear us referring to this tank as the “Kemp’s Condo”!
7/25/24: Surprise! Scone has been released at Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge! This is a wonderful place to release our previously hooked sea turtle patients, such as Scone, as it is a protected area with few humans fishing out there compared to at a fishing pier.