Sam

Green (Chelonia mydas)

(ST1104)

Age Class	Juvenile
Gender	Unknown
Date Stranded	January 29, 2011
Location of Stranding	Banana River near Satellite Beach in Brevard County
Date of Arrival	January 29, 2011
Number of Days of Care	1067 days

Final Disposition

Released 8/2 from Florida's east coast

1/30 Sam arrived at the hospital from Florida's east coast. This turtle was covered in algae and wrapped in fishing line. The fishing line was also protruding from the turtle's mouth, with X-rays showing a wad of line in the turtle's digestive tract. Sam also suffers from papilloma tumors. 2/1 Sam has begun to eat and has become more active. 2/24 Sam coninutes to eat and get stronger daily and, today, passed some fishing line. 2/25 Sam had surgery to remove the papilloma tumors. The turtle recovered well and began eating the next day. 3/28 Sam has continued to improve following surgery but several wounds from the fishing entanglement line still need to heal. 4/25 Sam had a couple of small tumor re-growths that were frozen off during cryosurgery. The turtle continues to grow and improve daily. 5/18 The tumors that were frozen off have not grown back. We hope that Sam will be ready for release within a couple of weeks. 6/2 Sam's last blood samples have shown an elevated white blood cell count, indicating an infection, and the turtle has been started on antibiotics. 6/13 Sam continues on the same rehabilitation course and seems to be doing well. 7/31 This turtle has been approved for release and will be transported to the east coast later in the week. 8/2 Sam was released from the east coast today!

Sometimes human activities can have a detrimental affect on the marine animals that fascinate us so much. A few things you can do to help wild turtles include:

Stowing your trash (especially cigarette butts and plastic) and disposing of it in a closed container on shore
Making sure your fishing line is in good condition to help reduce breakage
Using corrodible hooks — that way, if you accidentally hook a sea turtle, the hook will rust away.