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The Journey of Sam
It was a chilly Monday evening when Churamura received a report of a live stranding on Nagahama Beach. A young couple, Peter and Lauren, had been out for a walk when they noticed the small turtle struggling against the current, trapping it among the rocks on the shore. They carefully retrieved it from its precarious situation and wrapped it up in a blanket before taking it home to ponder what to do next.
A quick google search brought them to Churamura’s 24 hour Sea Turtle Rescue Hotline number. Their call was answered by Carl, founder and driving passion behind the Churamura organization, and within minutes he was on site to help. After learning that a sea turtle’s gender is unknown for years after they are born, the rescuers name the precious baby Hawksbill Sam, and wished it well as they passed them to the trusted care of Carl and the Churamura organization.
Carl immediately went to work making little Sammy as comfortable as possible. Despite it being after hours, he began contacting colleagues at Churaumi Aquarium in Nago. Churamura has worked closely with Churaumi Aquarium over the last five years, transporting distressed and ill sea turtles to their on-site rehabilitation center and this time was no different. After arranging a meeting time early the next morning, Carl kept the little Hawksbill warm and hydrated throughout the night while messages from Churamura’s volunteers poured in wishing for Sam’s continued journey to recovery.
Early the next morning as the sunrise dusted a soft pink over low hanging clouds, Carl and Kai, another volunteer, set off with Sam to the Aquarium where they would meet Maeda Ken along with two other new staff members to take Sam into their care.
The Churaumi staff moved quickly and efficiently, getting Sam into the MRI where Doctor Keiichi Ueda, Director and Senior Research Scientist of Churaurmi, began the process of identifying any causes to the poor little sea turtle’s current state and the best way to proceed. The good news was the CAT scan showed all of its little bones intact and undamaged, showing that it’s 2-3 years of life up until that point had no major physical trauma. However, a deeper scan began to show the damage little Sammy had been enduring. Where the left lung looked healthy, the right showed severe signs of pneumonia. Cold water had been trapped in its lung as it fought against the current and coral in an effort to survive.
Doctor Ueda and the team of rescuers were saddened. Pneumonia is an especially difficult challenge in general and even more so on the body of such a small creature. Even so, we weren’t going to give up on hope just yet! A sea turtle is capable of amazing feats of survival, including the ability to slow its heart beat as low as a single beat per minute! While there were no current signs of life, everyone still held their breath for a miracle and quickly moved the turtle to the rehabilitation facility. There the staff began filling one of the many containers with water around 22 degrees C (71 F). They gently placed the turtle on a raised platform, sloped just enough where its head could be kept above the level of the water while benefiting from the warm flow. The container was then covered to trap the warm moisture and air to best benefit little Sammy’s chances of survival.
As much as Carl and Kai wanted to stay behind with the little sea turtle to monitor its progress, at this point all that’s left is time. The Churaumi staff are highly trained professionals with a love and care for what they do. They will continue to monitor Sam and hope for signs of life over the next day or so.
The life of a young sea turtle is hard with many challenges from the moment it hatches in the cramped, sandy nest to its frenzy to the ocean and fight to the deep sea. Yet time and time again they prove resilient and live long, fulfilled lives. We’ve seen some incredible recoveries here at Churamura and we know that Sam is in good hands.
In the meantime, we continue to work hard towards our mission of research, conservation, preservation, and working with locals and foreigners alike to promote the importance of keeping the environment lean so our marine friends can live the full, healthy, and happy lives they deserve!
Update on Sam
Life continued for the volunteers at Churamura. Reports of other turtle strandings continued and volunteers dispatched in teams, recording data to further scientific research before respectfully putting each sea turtle to rest according to local customs. When we put the sea turtles who have passed to rest, we bury them with their heads facing the ocean so that their spirits can return to the ocean. Sometimes we’ll say something nice and make offerings such as shells and flowers. Then we bury them and mark the grave out of respect. Turtles have an important place in Japanese culture and we do our best to respect that as much as possible.
Yet with each stranding that ended in sadness, our thoughts strayed to little Sammy at the Churaumi Aquarium. It had been days with no word and we all waited, praying for good news.
A few days later, Carl answered a call from Churaumi with an update on Sam’s progress. We were all devastated to hear that little Sammy did not survive but we were not disheartened! So many on our team shared inspirational words of encouragement. As the responses poured in we all felt a renewed passion for our mission, hoping that the next live stranding report would not be the end of their journey through life.
Churamura is Okinawa’s very first fully community run sea turtle conservation and research organization. Volunteers dedicate hundreds of hours of their lives outside of work, school, family, and everything else for something they believe fully in. The people that make up the community are incredibly compassionate and driven towards making a change for sea turtle and marine conservation.
Below are some of the beautiful messages shared by our team in response to the news.
“You believed in the meaning of this baby’s life and you did more than your best for them in the last moments of their life. Sam was not alone. All we can say is thank you. Thank you Kai. Thank you Carl. Thank you Sam. Please take care of yourself.” - Miwa
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