Call it a major shell-ebration for the staff at Sea Life Concord.
Three months after a cold-stunned green sea turtle arrived at the aquarium with serious injuries, the turtle nicknamed "Sweater Weather" has made a recovery. Staff are preparing to send it back to the ocean with a group of other newly-recovered turtles on Sunday.
Lori Semple, lead aquarist with Sea Life Concord, said the turtle was among more than 100 green sea turtles that washed up on the North Carolina coast in late December when temperatures plummeted during a cold snap.
"When reptiles find themselves in that kind of situation, they freeze up, and they can't move very well," Semple said.
Volunteers rescued Sweater Weather and several other injured turtles. They brought the turtles to the North Carolina State University of Veterinary Medicine.
There, veterinarians determined Sweater Weather had some of the most serious injuries of the bunch. The turtle's shell had a deep cut — possibly from a boat strike — and a CAT scan appeared to show its spine was severed.
But Semple said the turtle seemed to have "a fighting spirit — like, it wasn't ready to be done," — so Sea Life Concord agreed to take turtle in to help it recover. She said her team wasn't daunted by the turtle's prospects.
"Turtles can really recover from some serious injuries that you think would knock out a person. But for turtles, they almost walk it off," she said.
Staff took in the injured turtle on Jan. 13 and kept it in a small enclosure with warm water. They kept the turtle's wound clean, and fed it good food and medicine.
Once Sweater Weather's shell had healed up, Semple's staff made arrangements for the turtle to be released back into the ocean.
"We're really excited about it," Semple said, "It's the first rehab we've done in a while."
On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard will take Sweater Weather and a group of other newly-recovered turtles to some warm waters in the Gulf Stream off the North Carolina coast. There, they'll swim back into the ocean.
