Fog finds Freedom in Mississippi after being rescued on Cape Cod

Fog, a Kemp’s ridley turtle plucked off a frigid Cape Cod beach in December 2020, was returned to the Gulf of Mexico waters off the coast of Biloxi, Mississippi Friday . It took 21 months to bring Fog to a semblance of his old self.

Most of the time was spent at the New England Aquarium’s animal care center in Quincy. There it was determined the turtle had pneumonia due to mycobacterium chelonae  (chelonae indicating it is specific to turtles — order chelonia — and other marine animals).

More:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAqMETKJXYk

That group of bacteria is difficult to treat, Aquarium veterinarian Charles Innis said.

“So the last 10 years or so we’ve been learning treatments," he said. "That type of bacteria tends to get deep in tissues and it is difficult to get drugs to penetrate down to where the infection resides. The bacteria has developed some resistance so we use two three drugs that have a synergistic effect. It’s a bacterium that’s related to tuberculosis.”

The treatment and testing also included a lung biopsy that took awhile for the turtle to recover from. That came after several months of treatment to see if Fog was recovering well. He weighed about 10 pounds when he came in and gained a little weight while in Quincy.

Mississippi connection for sick turtles

In October 2021, Fog was flown to the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport by Turtles Fly Too for further rehabilitation.

More:Homecoming: Pair of rehabbed sea turtles return to the ocean at West Dennis beach

More:Are rescues on Cape Cod making difference for this endangered sea turtle?

“Every year when we know we’re getting into the Cape Cod stranding season we try to clear the hospital out,” Innis said.  “We’ve just released our last turtle on the Cape this week. We have a number of saltwater hospital pools with a filter system. Mississippi has a similar system. I saw him down there when I went down to do another biopsy.”

“We are grateful for our partnership with the New England Aquarium," Mississippi Aquarium President and CEO Kurt Allen said in a statement. "Endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle conservation is an important part of our mission at Mississippi Aquarium.”

The New England Aquarium usually manages 200 turtles each stranding season. It might have 100 on hand at a time, shipping them south as soon as possible. In 2020, the aquarium admitted 569 turtles while the National Marine Life Center in Bourne handled 206.

What ailments stranded turtle experiences

By the end of the season 29 different facilities had housed turtles, Innis said.

“Pneumonia is very common,” he said. “About half of the turtles who show up have it.”

In Septicemia infections, bacteria gets into the bloodstream, causing another problem for cold-stunned turtles. Bacteria sometimes into the joints  resulting in a long-term infection

“We’re getting better at identifying it early,” Innis said. “Then we can get the best drugs for it.”

The decks are clear for another season that should start about Thanksgiving when the waters in Cape Cod Bay get colder.

Contact Rich Eldred at reldred@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reldredCodder.

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