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November 10, 2005...
Did you know a loggerhead sea turtle was
recently released on Kiawah? Beachwalker Park was the site of
the latest release by the South Carolina Aquarium. The juvenile
loggerhead was named "Litchfield", and weighed roughly 100 pounds.
The primary difference in this release over others was that Litchfield
was carried into the water because his/her left front flipper does not
work very well. The aquarium says s/he swims OK, but it can be a
circular crawl at times and they didn't want the little (100 lbs)
darlin' to get too tired too fast.
The aquarium's rehabilitation program
names turtles after the area where they were found, so Litchfield came
to us from Litchfield Beach, SC. It was suffering from
Debilitated Turtle Syndrome (DTS) and also had a hole in its shell
that was 5 centimeters deep. The lesion proved
to be very stubborn in healing but the staff at the "rehab clinic" was
happy to medically clear and return the turtle to its natural habitat.
Litchfield was tagged on both its flippers and with a chip under its
skin so that if it is ever stranded again, or if it nests and is
sighted, it can be identified by officials.
Photos courtesy of Kelly Bragg - click
on a thumbnail to view a larger version of a photo
For additional photos,
visit the KICA web site by clicking here. |
