Australian Seabird Rescue Central Coast (ASRCC) has achieved what’s believed to be a world first in turtle rehabilitation.
In June, the organisation said goodbye to Dotti the green sea turtle, after releasing the adult female at Norah Head following nine months of rehabilitation. Dotti had been struck by a boat, suffering a severe crack in her shell and from float syndrome, a condition that makes turtles float due to gas build up in their organs.
After months of care, Dotti’s shell healed, but her issues with floating persisted. Upon further veterinary inspection, it was determined that the endangered turtle was suffering a collapsed lung and pneumothorax. After several attempts to drain the air building up in her body, Dotti’s vet, Dr Jonathon Howard, concluded that she had a tear in her lung which was leaking.
It was that tear that prompted him to try a procedure believed to never have been done on a sea turtle, an autologous blood patch. The procedure commonly performed on humans, sees blood drawn from the patient and injected back into the chest to then form a clot to seal the tear.
Dotti survived the surgery, and in the weeks that followed, her carers at ASRCC noticed that she began to float less, until she eventually was able to lay at the bottom of her pool, a tell-tale sign that she’d recovered. A CT scan confirmed the good news that Dotti’s lung had reattached to her shell and that there was no longer air in her chest.
Dotti was cured, and for the team at ASRCC, it felt like they’d witnessed a miracle. They’re now excited at what breakthroughs Dr Howard’s procedure could bring about in marine science and turtle care. “Dr Howard is writing up his findings from Dotti’s case and it’s so exciting to think about how this could help so many turtle species.
World leading procedure
“We truly believe this is the first time this kind of procedure has been performed anywhere in the world and how brilliant is it that human medicine can work on sea turtles?” said ASRCC Coordinator, Cathy Gilmore.
For Gilmore, Dotti’s recovery is also a personal miracle after her initial prognosis was grim. “As the coordinator, it’s my job to make the call on when it’s time to euthanise an animal that is not getting better.
“Our volunteers threw everything at Dotti to try and get her on the mend and she was with us for so long that every single one of us had been involved in some aspect of her care, so the prospect of making that call when she wasn’t getting over her floating weighed heavily.
“Thankfully, Dr Howard went the extra mile, as he always does, and now look at the result, a world first in marine reptile medicine,” Gilmore said. When release day rolled around, Gilmore said there was nary a dry eye at Cabbage Tree Harbour when Dotti took her first dive.
“The most beautiful part about it was that when she went under her first wave it looked like she was just gone. “We didn’t see her until she came up for her first breath, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. “She did what she was made to do. “It was really a spectacular outcome,” Gilmore said.
Source: Interview, Jul 13 Cathy Gilmore, Australian Seabird Rescue Central Coast Reporter: Dilon Luke