. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. an antibiotic. After a week of recupera- tion, the turtle is taken to Oregon Inlet. Tagged and released near a shallow area thick with seaweed and crustaceans, the turtle is on its own. "Sometimes I wonder about calling it rehabilitation," says Frank Hudgins, the aquarium's curator of husbandry. "When you really look at it, rehabilita- tion may require ; But the aquarium can hold only three animals in its three-tank impound- ment, which was built with state and federal grant mone
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. an antibiotic. After a week of recupera- tion, the turtle is taken to Oregon Inlet. Tagged and released near a shallow area thick with seaweed and crustaceans, the turtle is on its own. "Sometimes I wonder about calling it rehabilitation," says Frank Hudgins, the aquarium's curator of husbandry. "When you really look at it, rehabilita- tion may require ; But the aquarium can hold only three animals in its three-tank impound- ment, which was built with state and federal grant money. And when there's a harbor seal or sandbar shark waiting in the wings, some patients must be discharged early. Statewide, marine mammals in distress are assisted by the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, a mostly volunteer team of veterinarians, biologists and other specialists dedicated to assisting these protected animals. The state and federal governments provide some money to administer first aid. Unfortunately, much of the team's work consists of necropsies or examinations to determine why a dead animal washed ashore. Some die of disease or old age. But many bear the scars of human interference — gunshot wounds, plastic entanglement and strangulation, and gill net lacerations, to name a few. The remainder of the network's job involves stabilizing injured animals and transporting them to a qualified facility. Easter Seal, a harbor seal that washed up on Long Beach in the spring of 1993, was stabilized by staff at the Aquarium at Ft. Fisher and two Southport rehabilitators. It was then transported to the veterinary school at State University. Wounded by a gunshot, the seal had several other problems, including severe kidney disease and cataracts. It died under anesthesia during eye surgery. Happy endings are the exception rather than the rule. But good will compels people to keep trying. "There's a very close correlation between coastal development and rehab
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
