Hospital in Alabama treats its first animal patient ever: a big sea turtle named Kale

Kale hasn’t had it easy.

The endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was living carefree in the sea off the coast of Virginia when he ended up on the wrong end of a fishing hook in 2019.

A recreational fisherman hooked Kale off the pier in Chesapeake Bay, and Virginia wildlife officials were called to rescue him from the end of the line.

Kale was still a juvenile turtle at the time, and the size of the hook meant it was nearly impossible to pull it out without performing surgery.

That’s when Kale made his way to the Cook Museum of Natural Science in Decatur, Alabama, in 2020.

“Several invasive surgeries were required,” the museum said on its website. “His wound did not fully heal and created scar tissue and a fistula, a hollow space where food and debris can get trapped and cause infections.”

The museum staff said because of his ongoing medical issues, he needs regular veterinarian visits and treatment.

So, when the staff decided Kale needed a CT scan, they went looking for someone to help.

Luckily, the radiology team at Decatur Morgan Hospital were up for the challenge, and the museum shared photos of the hospital’s first animal patient on Facebook.

“The CT scan is the best tool to assess the improvement of Kale’s deep infections of his shell,” the museum said.

But like many others, Kale wasn’t keen on being at the doctor’s.

“The veterinarians had to hold the turtle to keep it from jumping off the table and keep it relatively still,” one radiologist told WAFF.

To better prepare Kale for days like this, the museum staff tries to handle him as much as they can.

“Of course, he’s a sea turtle so I can’t tell him what he’s about to go through, but we do a procedure with him every week so he’s used to coming out of the water, he’s used to being around us,” live animal manager at the museum, Cassandra Worlund, told the news outlet. “He doesn’t necessarily like that all the time just like anybody wouldn’t want to always go to the doctor.”

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the smallest of the sea turtles and spend most of their lives in the Gulf of Mexico, according to NOAA. However, young turtles can travel through the Atlantic, as far north as Canada or as far east as England.

Their population was decimated between the 1940s and 1980s, leaving just 250 nesting female turtles, NOAA reported.

They are now listed as endangered, and while Kale may never be able to be returned to the ocean, his story represents one of their biggest dangers – fishing gear.

The Smithsonian Institute estimates that 4,600 sea turtles are killed by fishing nets or hooks each year in the waters around the United States.

Kale will be able to spend the rest of his years in the care of the natural history museum where he is safe and sound.

The Cook Museum of Natural Science is in Decatur, about 85 miles north of Birmingham.

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