Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)

Stranding Location: Eastham, MAArrival Date: 11/20/2014Age: JuvenileWeight: 2.4 kg (~5 lb.)

Case History

Scarlet is one of fifteen sea turtles transferred from the New England Aquarium (NEAq) to the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital on November 20, 2014. 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 Margie and Will Dorminy, owners of Southern Eagle Distributing in Charleston, 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 event.

Treatment

Scarlet stranded November 16th and was quickly admitted into NEAq’s sea turtle rehabilitation facility. This juvenile ridley was given a complete physical exam during which staff noted shallow respirations, a core body temperature of 53.9°F, and a slow but normal-sounding heart rate of 15 beats per minute. Although Scarlet had sand in her mouth from stranding cold and debilitated on the beach in Massachusetts, her eyes were clear and she was in relatively decent shape. Scarlet was stable and feisty when she arrived at our sea turtle hospital on the 20th, which made for an efficient admission process and allowed us to transfer her to a warm tank of filtered water just hours after her flight from Boston landed in South Carolina. Prognosis is good.

Release Date

March 5, 2015

Release Location

Cape Canaveral National Seashore