Jessies GoPro video of the week! This is October who is the largest turtle in the hospital at this time. She weighs about 240 lb and that is with missing her right flipper….a big girl indeed. We estimate that October is more than 30 years old. This girl is also a survivor to have lived to be this old. Her luck ran out when she lost her left from flipper, her right one was sliced in the same place but not all of the way through. You can see the scar in this video. In addition her right flipper had a huge slice laterally (like through a bagel). Without rescue by a great group of local commercial fishermen she would probably not have survived. She was brought to the hospital very late at night at the beginning of October in 2013, hence her name. She was the first turtle to have surgery in our new hospital! Thanks to Dr. Harms and crew plus a lot of tender care from all of us who fell in love with her, this beautiful turtle is recovering very well and has an excellent chance of release. From research led by Larissa Avens and done at the Beaufort we know that female loggerheads who nest along our coast are around 35 to 37 years old. Of course we are all hoping that October remembers Topsail Island as the great place it is and that she shows up here one day in the future to build her nest and lay her eggs. Wouldnt it be an incredibly wonderful sight to see a lot of little Octobers make their race to the sea! Come and visit with October and our other recovering turtles on Thursdays and Saturdays from 1 until 3 until after Christmas. We know you will agree that she is quite a girl! ~ Jean
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 19:03:16 +0000
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