Charlie is busy exploring her new, larger tank. During her move on Monday, we weighed her and pulled blood while we had her restrained. After a little more than 6 months in rehab, Charlie weighed in at 203 lbs and her bloodwork checked out great. On Tuesday morning, we removed 1 lb of the weight and Charlie is still submerged! We’ll remove the second weight on Thursday if she is still displaying normal buoyancy.
During her stay in rehab, Charlie has met many milestones, including eating from the bottom of the tank, gaining over 20lbs, and an improvement in her buoyancy.
As you might imagine, moving a 203 lb healthy, active, and very strong turtle is a little difficult. It took 5 people to strap her into the sling made especially for sea turtles (by a N.E.S.T. volunteer), load her onto a cart, pull blood, weigh her, and ultimately release her into the new tank. Check out some photos below. More photos and video are also posted on the N.E.S.T. website and Facebook page.
Moving out of her former tank. Photo by Carolyn Leopard.
Pulling blood from Charlie for routine bloodwork. Photo by NC Aquarium.
- See you later! Photo by NC Aquarium.
- Charlie swimming underwater. Photo by Carolyn Leopard.
- Hardworking volunteers enjoying Charlie’s improvement. Photo by Carolyn Leopard.