Sparkles

Loggerhead (Caretta caretta)

(ST 0745)

Age Class	Adult
Gender	Female
Date Stranded	August 5, 2007
Location of Stranding	1.5 miles West of Sanibel Island
Date of Arrival	August 5, 2007
Number of Days of Care	4 days

Final Disposition

Died August 10, 2007

Turtle upon arrival

8/7 Turtle was found floating, with difficulty breathing, offshore from Sanibel Island and was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Turtle had been struck by a boat and has a severe prop wound on its skull. The brain does not seem to be damaged, but the right eye is injured. Turtle will require orthopedic surgery to repair the fracture. 8/9 Last evening, Dr. John Kirsch, board certified veterinary surgeon from Coastal Veterinary Surgical Specialists, Inc. in Sarasota, performed orthopedic surgery to close the skull fracture (see photo below). Surgery went very well and patient is recovering nicely. Hoping to put the turtle into shallow water later today. 8/10 Turtle was placed in shallow water this morning and was swimming, but suddenly quit breathing and died. Necropsy revealed that the fracture had caused more brain damage than was evident at first, and this brain damage had caused respiratory failure.