Gingerbread's Story
Cold Stunned & Pneumonia
Gingerbread is a juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle that became cold stunned in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This patient was admitted in December 2022, along with eleven other cold stunned sea turtles. Cold stunning is a hypothermic condition that often causes a sea turtle to become weak, inactive, ill, and float at the surface. This inability to swim and floating leaves a sea turtle vulnerable to washing back ashore or into cliffs or rocks that can cause damage and lesions to their body and skin, like seen here on Gingerbread’s face, flippers, and carapace. After undergoing rehabilitation at the sea turtle rehab facility here in Boca Raton, Gingerbread made a full recovery and was released back into the ocean in February 2023!
Name: Gingerbread
Species: Kemp’s Ridley (Lk)
Age class: Juvenile
Admission date: 12/18/22
Ailment: Cold Stunned, Pneumonia
Weight: 2.25 kg
Updates
12/18/22: Admitted into rehab. Veterinary exam, x-rays, and blood drawn.
12/19/22: Begin a supportive care regiment and daily nebulizer treatments.
12/30/22: Patient is active and eating!
1/4/23: Bloodwork re-evaluated and X-rays taken to check status of lung infection. Continue to closely monitor patient’s behavior.
1/9/23: Stop daily nebulizing treatments and continue supportive care routine and fluid therapy.
2/7/23: Off all medications.
2/21/23: Tagged and released in Cape Canaveral, FL!
