Two patients at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, greens Belle and Rosemary, had moved into a duplex tank and were getting along “swimmingly” as neighbors. And that we also suspected that Belle’s little turtle brain was cooking up some plan to supplement her daily ration of veggies. You have to understand that Belle is on the high end of the body condition scale where 1 is teensy and 5 is well, definitely not teensy. Dr. Harms has put her at a 4.5 out of the goodness of his heart. But in all honesty she’s a big old 5. Apparently, you can gain weight on veggies even without the blue cheese dressing.

We’re not sure how she did it but she managed to grab Rosemary’s veggie feeder and drag it under the divider so she could have it all for herself. But in her haste, she forgot that she had left a flipper sticking out on Rosemary’s side of the tank. Rosie took advantage of Belle’s focus on the cucumbers and kept biting on that flipper in retaliation. You go, girl. Despite Belle’s swindle, they remain friends and enjoy long swims together in the therapy pool – for now.

Seems Mother Nature is not totally done throwing in bouts of wintry weather just to keep us out of shorts and flip-flops. One day it’s 80 and two days later it’s in the 40’s. There are most likely still debilitated turtles out there that might be stranding in the next few weeks. Please continue to be on the lookout for any turtle in distress. Don’t assume a turtle is beyond help because it can’t move. They may be just stunned to the point of not being able to move, even unable to close their eyes. If you spot anything unusual, please call our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at 910-470-2880. If she is not available, you may call the hospital during operating hours: 910-329-0222. We will take the information and we will meet you to retrieve the turtle that will then be brought to us for follow-up. The State of NC hotline for stranded, sick, and injured turtles is 252-241-7367. The state number picks up 24/7. Please note that all our work with sea turtles, at the hospital and on the beach, is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 22ST05.