Written by WGNO ABC26 News
| Sunday, 20 September 2009 05:45
ABC26 News
A boat propeller had cracked her shell and
skull. Her brain was visible, her left eye injured.
Rehabilitators at the Audubon Nature Institute patched her up
and cared for her. Now Kate, a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle found
stranded two years ago on Rutherford Beach in Cameron Parish, is in
Boston.
She probably had drifted around for a while, unable to hunt,
said stranding coordinator Michele Kelley, who headed the team that
nursed Kate back to health.
Kemp's Ridleys are the smallest and most endangered species of
sea turtle in the world. This one, 14 inches long, 13 inches wide
and weighing only 12 pounds, was so skinny that the crew named her
after British supermodel Kate Moss.
"We didn't think she'd make it," Kelley said.
The first goal was to put some weight on Kate so she would be
healthy enough to undergo surgery. The team fed her a gruel of
crab, squid, shrimp, fish and clams through a tube up to three
times a day, and treated the turtle for several weeks with
antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory and pain medication.
The open wounds meant letting her in the water could risk
infection. So rehabilitators plied her shell with gel and damp
towels. Her bandages were changed daily until scabs developed, and
an orthopedic surgeon repaired her shell with metal plates.
"She looked terrible," said Lance Ripley, assistant curator of
fish. "They took just stellar care of her. Most people would have
just written her off."
As she recovered, Kate outgrew the pool where she was displayed
at the Aquarium of the Americas. She moved to the Audubon Center
for Research of Endangered Species Center in Algiers, where Kate -
now 38 pounds, 3 feet long and 2½ feet across - shared a
30,000-gallon tank with another Kemp's Ridley.
The other turtle will be released into the wild within the
month, but Kate probably can never be. Her survival rate is minimal
since she was left blind in one eye by her injuries and - though
she's probably about 15 years old - her hunting skills are nil,
Kelley said. Blue crab, the turtle's main diet in the wild, went
unharmed when released in Kate's tank.
It may mean good news for the tropical fish who will be Kate's
new tank-mates at the New England Aquarium. She'll share the space
with 150 different species of animals, including four other
turtles, including a Kemp's Ridley.
The aquarium had rehabilitated another injured Kemp's Ridley
turtle, said Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium.
"That kind of turtle is great for a public aquarium," LaCasse
said. "That turtle has grown into adulthood and has functioned
very well."
After 30 days in quarantine, Kate will be on display for the
public to learn about the Kemp's Ridleys' plight.
The greatest cause of their decline is their accidental capture
in fishing gear, especially shrimp trawls, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In 1947, about 40,000 of the turtles nested on the beaches of
the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where nearly 95 percent of
worldwide Kemp's Ridley nesting occurs. Between 1978 and 1991, only
200 of the turtles nested annually.
But the numbers are rising again, and 2006 saw a record number
of 12,143 nests documented in Mexico. In 2007, a record 127 nests
were documented on the Texas coast.
Kate flew to Boston on Sept. 8, in a plastic crate lined with
damp towels.
"To see her not only come through something like that and be
such a huge fighter, but on top of that, that we've doubled her
size, it's bittersweet," Kelley said. "I'm going to miss her. I'm
going to miss scratching her shell."
