JINX AND ACURA
Juvenile, Green sea turtles
(Chelonia mydas)
RELEASED: May 23, 2016
JINX
Jinx, a juvenile green sea turtle, was rescued from Three Rooker Island and brought to CMA on April 28, 2016. He is one of the very few Green Sea Turtles that we receive that does not have the Fibropapilloma virus. Upon his arrival, he was slightly bloated in the inguinal area and was found floating. Overall, he was in good body condition, was taking deep breaths, and was active.
Digital imaging found that Jinx had a large amount of GI gas. This would explain his buoyancy issues. He quickly reacted to antibiotics, fluids, and tube feedings that were given and soon graduated to deep water swim time with no flotation concern. He was discontinued on fluids, and received a clean bill of health from our veterinarian, and has officially been cleared for release!
ACURA
Acura, a juvenile green sea turtle, was brought to CMA on February 14, 2016, from Caladesi Island. He was one of the very few turtles that the aquarium received that did not have the fibropapilloma virus during our cold stun event. He presented with a small boat-strike injury directly above his right eye. He came to us in relatively good body condition and was lifting his head to breathe upon intake. He was given a series of vitamin injections as well as a pain med injection for his head injury.
Acura quickly started eating solid food, but was still receiving fluids with sugar (dex) in order to keep his blood glucose up. Once his sugar levels were in order we needed to perform weekly wound care to the boat strike on his head.
After receiving a clean bill of health from our veterinarian, as well as a nicely healed head wound, Acura has been cleared for release.
Jinx and Acura were both successfully released May 23, 2016, at Clearwater Beach, Florida.
Watch the sea turtle release video: