Turtle I Found On the Beach this Morning.

[Bones]

While walking on the beach early in the morning, i found a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle atop a rock. It was really odd because it looked like someone placed him on the rock, but given the rock was in the water at high tide and no one had walked the beach yet this morning, it seems it may be just that the turtle settled on the rock as the tide went out. Anyway, the wind was blowing so hard, it took me 40 minutes to walk a mile back to my truck with the turtle.

Here's the location where the turtle was found if you want to see the area...
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:40.98023,-72.68953

As you probably know, the end of December is not a good time for a sea turtle to be in the water around New York. The cold water causes them to go into hypothermic shock and they float helplessly or wash up on shore. Either way, they will die if not found in time and given proper treatment.



The turtle and the rock....


Closeup...


At the hospital the turtle is check for any signs of life, this is done by touching the eyelids...


Moving and pinching the flippers...


Touching the cloaca...


All responses and negative responses are recorded as are physical measurements and temperature...


The turtle's internal temperature was 5.1 C ...


A Doppler flow detector is applied to try and find a heart beat...


And blood is drawn...


Unfortunately, this turtle showed no signs of life and is most likely dead, they will continue to monitor it until the turtle's body temperature comes up to the ambient room temperature and then if it still shows no life signs, it will be declared dead.

[Brad Pittiful]

aw what a shame...at least you found it and not some regular person who may have put it back in the water cause they thought it was the right thing to do for it

lets hope it rebounds with signs of life

[Bones]

Officially declared dead.

[Boubou]

Poor little guy

Sent from my iPad using TDPRI

[Bones]

Originally Posted by Boubou

Poor little guy

Sent from my iPad using TDPRI

Yep, one less of the most endangered sea turtles on the planet.

[Stubee]

Interesting. From the first pics I thought it was alive.

I found a dead loggerhead on a NW FL island & talked to a biologist who came out to inspect. No idea what happened to it; there are a lot of smaller ones in the bay there. It may have been caught in the wrong spot in a cold snap though water there is never really cold.

I did have a huge one watching me while fishing a pass one day, quite a sight.

[Dingbat]

Too bad, but you did a good job trying to save it.
I love seeing the turtles in the wild and get to swim/dive near them in Hawaii a few times every year. They are truly amazing.

[Brad Pittiful]

Originally Posted by Bones

Officially declared dead.

awww

[rwsand]

Your a very nice, compassionate person Bones.

[E5RSY]

Is it normal for them to be in the Sound? I would have thought they'd mostly be on the ocean side.

[goldtopper]

Bones, I love it when you show these things. Living in MN doens't offer much opportunity to see saltwater critters.

[Shango66]

Well done mate, looked a lot bigger on the vets bench.

I like the link to map the location, I can see a golf course a vineyard, plenty of farm land? What agriculture takes place in that area?

[Bones]

Originally Posted by E5RSY

Is it normal for them to be in the Sound? I would have thought they'd mostly be on the ocean side.

Mostly they are in the Sound, better conditions for them to feed.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by Shango66

Well done mate, looked a lot bigger on the vets bench.

I like the link to map the location, I can see a golf course a vineyard, plenty of farm land? What agriculture takes place in that area?

The turtle was about 8 pounds


Lots of vegetable farms, Long Island used to be famous for potato and duck farming. Many of the old farms have been turned into vineyards and sod farms now.

[Jamie Black]

Your a very nice, compassionate person Bones.

+1, it takes a special kind of person to do what you did.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by Jamie Black

+1, it takes a special kind of person to do what you did.

Thanks, I recently "retired" from this organization, but it's inevitable around here that I will participate like this from time to time.

[adamkavanagh]

Originally Posted by Bones

Thanks, I recently "retired" from this organization, but it's inevitable around here that I will participate like this from time to time.

Good on you, warms my heart to see that kind of care. Sorry to hear about your little buddy.

[Justinvs]

Well, damn. I was hoping this one would have a happy ending.

I'd never really thought about ho hard it is to detect life signs in a turtle. Can sea turtles hibernate?

[zooropamofo]

Poor little fella. You are a good person.

[idjster]

Thanks, Bones. That's a good thing you did, and I'm glad it was you that found the turtle, even if the ultimate end was unhappy. You're a good person. May you be blessed.