A radio goes off; Turtle 18 … she seems injured. Turtle 18 … there is a problem.
The crawl is missing the characteristic 'walk' pattern. She is injured . There seems to be a deep jagged cut on the left side of her shell. Her back flippers don't move. It is a bleak sight. A couple of minutes later she turns and hastily makes her way back to the water.
[the next night]
Quiet night. 11:30 pm. A crawl catches our attention. It is up at 30 over a mix of rocks and sand.
It seems unusual. Is it her? Is she back?
2 am. A similar crawl in the same place. She is on the beach. She needs help. We need to assess the damage and see what can be done. A storm breaks out. We need to get her back to the house. We get a towel and help her on to it. Wrapped tight around her fore flippers, she cannot move any more. No risk for her to injure herself. We lift her into a big wheel barrow. She is heavy, a good 60 kg. We part drag, part float the barrow back to the path. It is only 40 meters away but it seems like 400. Lightening flashes across the sky. Back on the path, only a few meters to the cart. Loaded up, we drive her home. It is 4 am. The rain has stopped. She will have to wait a few more hours before day break and for the vet to arrive.
We get her into an enclosure. We clean the sand off her. In the day light the full extent of the damage is revealed.
There is a wide jagged break approximately 30 cm long from the 3rd vertebral scute to the supracaudal. Pieces of shell and bone are missing, most of the posterior end is crushed. Vertebral 5 and part of the supracaudal seems to be missing. The costals scutes 4 are broken but present. The marginal scutes are barely hanging on. She is strong and determined, able to crawl efficiently by dragging herself with her front flippers. The injury is recent. She first nested on June 29th.
The vet comes. There is nothing that she can do. The best we can do is clean the wound.
At this stage, the shell shouldn't be rebuilt; too much of a risk of infection.
She has contractions, both her hind flippers move. There is no paralysis. She needs to lay but the injury is preventing her from it. The best we can do is release her. We don't have suitable facilities to keep her. It is hot.
We take her back to the beach. She swims out, staying in the shallows for a few minutes as if to say 'so long and thanks for all the turtles'. She takes a breath of air. She has gone.
Who knows, maybe she will be back in a few years.
We get word back from sea turtle specialist. How about sending her to rehab?
The crawl is missing the characteristic 'walk' pattern. She is injured . There seems to be a deep jagged cut on the left side of her shell. Her back flippers don't move. It is a bleak sight. A couple of minutes later she turns and hastily makes her way back to the water.
[the next night]
Quiet night. 11:30 pm. A crawl catches our attention. It is up at 30 over a mix of rocks and sand.
It seems unusual. Is it her? Is she back?
2 am. A similar crawl in the same place. She is on the beach. She needs help. We need to assess the damage and see what can be done. A storm breaks out. We need to get her back to the house. We get a towel and help her on to it. Wrapped tight around her fore flippers, she cannot move any more. No risk for her to injure herself. We lift her into a big wheel barrow. She is heavy, a good 60 kg. We part drag, part float the barrow back to the path. It is only 40 meters away but it seems like 400. Lightening flashes across the sky. Back on the path, only a few meters to the cart. Loaded up, we drive her home. It is 4 am. The rain has stopped. She will have to wait a few more hours before day break and for the vet to arrive.
We get her into an enclosure. We clean the sand off her. In the day light the full extent of the damage is revealed.
 |
| Crush at turtle house awaiting the vet - ©Dom/Kate. |
There is a wide jagged break approximately 30 cm long from the 3rd vertebral scute to the supracaudal. Pieces of shell and bone are missing, most of the posterior end is crushed. Vertebral 5 and part of the supracaudal seems to be missing. The costals scutes 4 are broken but present. The marginal scutes are barely hanging on. She is strong and determined, able to crawl efficiently by dragging herself with her front flippers. The injury is recent. She first nested on June 29th.
The vet comes. There is nothing that she can do. The best we can do is clean the wound.
At this stage, the shell shouldn't be rebuilt; too much of a risk of infection.
She has contractions, both her hind flippers move. There is no paralysis. She needs to lay but the injury is preventing her from it. The best we can do is release her. We don't have suitable facilities to keep her. It is hot.
We take her back to the beach. She swims out, staying in the shallows for a few minutes as if to say 'so long and thanks for all the turtles'. She takes a breath of air. She has gone.
Who knows, maybe she will be back in a few years.
 |
| Going where she knows best - ©Dom/Kate. |
We get word back from sea turtle specialist. How about sending her to rehab?
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