Meet Joey. Joey is a juvenile Green sea turtle, and he is everybody’s favorite. Joey has grown up here at the hospital. He came to the Turtle Hospital as a hatchling on September 13th, 2005 from Key West and has been here ever since. He was found in the bottom of his nest, after all his siblings climbed out, crawling in circles. He has not shown much change in his condition in the past 2 years, as he still swims in left-hand circles. He also flips upside-down when he is spooked or gets excited. However, he is just big enough for us to start working with him. We do not believe it is a neurological condition; it is more likely an injury, bacterial infection, or congenital condition. We are considering physical and enzyme therapy.

If, in the next few years, Joey proves he is able to swim straight enough to obtain food and avoid predators we will release him back out into the wild. If not, he will serve as an ambassador of his species here or at another world-class aquarium. We will keep our eyes open and hearts in anticipation of any sign of improvement, but for now Joey seems quite content living the easy life here at the Turtle Hospital.

UPDATE: Joey seems to be gaining better control of his locomotion. He is able to swim to his food and even flips over less often. Things are looking up for Joey, but in the meantime, keep checking the website to watch him grow and track his progress!

Twizzler is a juvenile Hawksbill sea turtle who was found floating in sargassam seaweed and wrapped in a plastic burlap-like sack in August of 2005. Twizzler had his right front flipper entangled in threads of the partially-shredded bag. Due to a prolonged restriction of circulation, the flipper was amputated, as blood flow to the flipper had completely ceased. Twizzler is now learning how to manage with only three flippers.

Sharky, a Green sea turtle was found on the North end of Jupiter Island, Florida and has been at The Turtle Hospital since January 6, 2000. He has propeller scars on his carapace and had a minor case of Fibropapilloma. The tumors have been successfully removed, but the boat hit has left Sharky with a deformed shell and as a permanent floater. He has a lead weight fiberglassed to his shell to help with buoyancy control. As he would not be able to forage for food in the wild, he is now a permanent member of the exclusive Turtle Hospital main tank.

Above is a picture of the application of Sharky’s lead weight.

Bender, a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, was rescued on February 17, 2005 from Upper Matecumbe Key, Florida. The Kemp’s Ridley is the most endangered species of sea turtle and is one of the rarest animals in the world! Bender came into the hospital with a body cavity infection, an injury to the left front flipper, and an old boat hit which was causing this turtle to float. Bender’s flipper was not salvageable and had to be amputated in May of 2005. The blunt force trauma from the old boat hit forced air out of Benders lungs and into his body cavity. This air bubble, trapped underneath his shell, rendered him unable to dive for food so we fit Bender with a lead weight. Bender is a lifer and will remain at the hospital as a permanent resident.

Ali was rescued on June 23, 2001 from Rabbit Key, Florida and was named after the famous boxer, Muhammad Ali (due to some personality similarities). Ali had Fibropapilloma and Dr. Doug Mader performed surgery to remove the tumors. This turtle was also victim to a boat hit which left Ali bobbing at the surface and unable to dive. A lead weight has been fiberglassed to the carapace to give Ali a more comfortable life here at the Turtle Hospital. The weight helps create neutral buoyancy, and enables this turtle to rest comfortably on the bottom. Because the weight is not a permanent fix, Ali will remain at the hospital as a permanent resident.

Montel was brought to the hospital on April 6, 2001 with a number of problems. Half of Montel’s right front flipper was missing from a shark attack and the left front flipper was completely amputated from a previous injury. Montel has the Fibropapillomatosis virus, and this turtle suffered a boat hit to the head causing him to be blind in his right eye. Montel now makes his way around our main pool well enough that he just might be our most ornery turtle. Because of all the odds working against this turtle, Montel will never be released back into the wild.

Rebel, an adult Loggerhead, came to the hospital in August of 1991. He had suffered a boat hit resulting in paralysis of his rear flippers from spinal cord damage and was unable to dive to search for food as his posterior end was bobbing at the surface. His wound was nearly healed when he was rescued, but he had become very underweight and weak because he could not dive to the bottom to feed. He quickly regained his weight and strength at the hospital, but still could not dive to the bottom on his own. Because of this injury, Rebel became a permanent resident and was fitted with a lead weight to overcome his flotation problem. Like Bubble-Butt, he will have to remain here at the hospital for the rest of his life.

April, a mature male Green sea turtle, arrived at the Turtle Hospital in April of 1990 with Fibropapilloma tumors on his neck and covering both of his eyes. Because the tumors were covering his eyes he was unable to search for food and therefore very emaciated when he was rescued. Dr. Carmen Colitz performed surgery on April to remove the tumors but they had already caused permanent damage in which the right eye had to be removed and he sees with only shadow vision in the left eye. Because of this disability, April is unable to be released to the wild, and will remain here as a permanent resident where we can hand feed him.

Bubble-Butt, an adult male Green sea turtle, has been a resident at the Hospital longer than any other turtle! He arrived in March of 1989 with a deformed shell caused by a boat hit. This left him unable to dive to search for food, and caused his posterior end to bob at the surface. Because of this injury, he became known as a “Bubble-Butt.” When rehabilitation measures failed to correct his flotation problem, he became a permanent resident. In an effort to give him a more comfortable life here at the Turtle Hospital, a 2 1/2 pound lead weight has been fiberglassed to his shell. This weight counteracts his flotation problem and enables him to maintain a normal swimming posture and rest comfortably on the bottom.

Bubble-Butt must remain at the hospital because the fiberglass is only semi-permanent. If we released him back into the ocean and he lost this weight, Bubble Butt would again be unable to dive for food and would be an easy target for boaters.

Bubbles, an adult male Loggerhead, was rescued from Tavernier Creek, Florida on July 7 2002. He was hit by a boat, resulting in spinal cord damage and paralysis of his rear flippers. He is missing his front left flipper due to an entanglement. With just one functioning flipper, Bubbles defies the odds. He spends his days resting at the bottom of the main pool and never misses a meal.

The Turtle Hospital will be Bubbles’ permanent home as his impairments are such that he would be at a distinct disadvantage in the wild. However, living the laid-back life here in the main pool is not so bad after all!