Aug 15, 2008
The FWC received reports of a floating turtle in the area of French reef. The initial response boat was unable to manage the turtle and sent out a radio request for assistance. Ocean Divers (out of Key Largo) was in the area with a dive party and responded. Having a larger boat (the Santana) with lower sides (and plenty of muscle), the 283 pound adult male Green Sea Turtle was captured.
OD (for Ocean Divers) with his rescuers, Captain Fred Hammond, dive instructors Keith DeMell and Kevin McKay.
This is the second largest turtle that has been brought in to the Turtle Hospital for treatment. Staff, Micah Rogers had the challenge to keep OD in a kiddie pool (in the ambulance) during the 1 hour transport from Key Largo to Marathon.
The turtle has flipper tags and a PIT tag (microchip). The FWC will determine if OD has been previously rehabilitated or is part of a study (tag and release) program. Initial examination finds no external trauma. X-rays indicate a possible lung infection which will be validated by blood analysis. The turtle is very active and strong and has been started on antibiotics.
Update Aug 28, 2008
OD continues to be strong and active. Administration of injectable medications and fluids prove to be a challenge for the staff. The cause of floating is a body cavity infection which is being treated by antibiotics.
Tag information traces the turtle back to being a patient at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehab Center. They also treated OD (know to them as Pepper) for a body cavity infection, causing floating, from July 1999 to release in Oct 2001.
UPDATE: September 26th 2009
Although The Turtle Hospital is a certified veterinary clinic for sea turtles, which includes a fully equipped Emergency Room and Operating Room, a turtle name OD presented staff with a problem. OD is a 300 lb. adult male Green sea turtle, the second largest sea turtle ever treated at our facility, who has a persistent floating problem. Typically sea turtles float due to an infection, an impaction (often caused by trash ingestion) or air trapped in the body cavity after a boat hit. These patients are treated with antibiotics or laxatives to cure infections or pass impactions. However, after a course of antibiotics and a series of x-rays The Turtle Hospital needed some assistance. OD continued to float which led staff to believe he may have a problem with his lungs. Due to his size, it was quite difficult to get a clear x-ray needed to identify the problem.
So The Turtle Hospital called Fisherman’s Hospital for help. The
UPDATE February 19th 2010:
OD has been fitted with a divers weight belt with 5 pounds of weight on the left side. With his new dive belt OD is able to sit at the bottom of the pool comfortably. He has now been moved into the deep end of our 100,000gl. saltwater pool where he lazily swims from his resting place on the sandy bottom to the surface for a back scratch or an extra squid snack in the afternoon.
Florida is the primary nesting grounds for Loggerhead sea turtles in the United States. However, Green and Hawksbill sea turtles will also nest in the Florida Keys. On September 11th, six Green sea turtle hatchlings were rescued from their nest in the Marquesas. These hatchling sea turtles were deemed “root babies.” Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) officers were monitoring a nest in the Marquesas, once hatched, the officers dug up the nest and found that their mother had laid her eggs in a very awkward spot. The nest was laid underneath a Mangrove between the roots. When the hatchlings attempted to burst from their nest and run to the sea, several were caught in the intertwined roots. They were stuck! FWC was able to rescue the six small Greens and bring them to The Turtle Hospital for observation. It has been two weeks since their admittance to the hospital, and all six hatchlings are eating well, active and ready for release!
(Pictured above, new green hatchling on the left and Cletus on the right)
Meet Lucky. On August 29th Big Pine Key resident Elizabeth noticed a sea turtle floating in the bay behind her home. Sadly, this summer Elizabeth has seen a few dead turtles around the area behind her home. This sub-adult Loggerhead however was still alive! Named by Elizabeth, Lucky is suffering from deep prop wounds to the head and carapace. Boat hits are quite damaging to sea turtles in many ways. One common problem with an injury like Lucky’s is brain damage. With a severe prop wound to her head Lucky is very listless naturally but able to lift her head and breathe on her own. To watch for signs of brain damage, Turtle Hospital staff monitors her movements looking for cohesiveness and consistency. Lucky also suffers from two prop wounds to the top of her carapace. Propeller wounds can often injure the spine leaving the turtle paralyzed. At this time, it appears that she still has movement in both rear flippers. Lucky is currently being treated with strong antibiotics and her wounds are tended to daily; the prop wounds are flushed, cleaned with a surgical scrub and filled with honey to clean and prevent infection. She is always under the close observing eye of Turtle Hospital Staff for signs of improvement. In this case, time really does help heal wounds.
UPDATE October 25th:
Lucky continues to grow stronger everyday! For the first time, she has begun eating on her own and actively seeking out food! Turtle Hospital Staff continues to be encouraged by her progress as she remains under close observation for improvement.
UPDATE February 22nd 2010:
Lucky continues to occasionally float in the shallow end of the pool. Although her injuries have healed her condition has not improved. We will continue to keep her under close observation.
UPDATE April 4th:
Lucky continues to show little to no improvement. She has recently been moved into the deep end of the pool to encourage her to swim and find her own food. She remains under close observation.
UPDATE August 24th 2010:
One year after her rescue Lucky contines to live a happy and healthy life as a permanent resident at The Turtle Hospital. Life in the keys is easy going. Although Lucky can dive and does not suffer from Bubble Butt Syndrome, the boat hit left her with long-term nerological damage. Sadly, Lucky is unable to feed herself and needs to be hand fed with tongs. It’s not so bad being hand fed, the other sea turtles won’t steal your food. Here’s a photo of Lucky one year later…
The Turtle Hospital received a very generous donation from a very special kid, Walker Rise! Happy Birthday Walker and thank you for contributing to the Turtle Hospital. Instead of gifts, Walker requested donations to help support our efforts after a tour of the hospital in March, and raised an amazing $165! It is truly the generosity of people like Walker Rise that make our goals possible. We couldn’t do it without you!
Margarita was released September 8th 2009 from Veterans Park on Little Duck Key!
Margarita, a 280 lb. adult female Green sea turtle was released! Governor Charlie Crist, Commissioner Mario De Gennaro, FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto, Turtle Hospital Director Richie Moretti, Administrator Ryan Butts and Rehabilitation Specialist Tom Luebke assisted in returning Margarita to her ocean home. Margarita has been recovering at The Turtle Hospital since late May from a severe entanglement in trap lines. Sadly, her left front flipper was amputated due to the extent of her injury. However sea turtles are strong, adaptable animals that swim just fine with only one front flipper. Many sea turtles have been successfully released with only three flippers.
This very public release drew a large crowd of well-wishers as well as much media attention! The Turtle Hospital would like to thank everyone who came out to support the hospital and say goodbye to Margarita. Channel 4 news was also there to document and film her release and for more on the article and to view the video of her release you can follow this link to channel 4 news: http://cbs4.com/local/charlie.crist.margarita.2.1169874.html
We say goodbye and good luck to Margarita! Hopefully next breeding season Margarita will return to the beach she was born, lay her eggs and contribute successfully to next year’s generation of Green sea turtle hatchlings.
To view Margarita’s release 360 please follow this link: http://fla-keys360.com/do/48/turtle/gov.html
Charlie, a post hatchling green sea turtle, was found floating inside Biscayne Bay in Miami Dade County. This tiny sea turtle had ingested a plastic bag, and was found with it protruding out of his mouth! Luckily his rescuer was able to safely remove a majority of the bag from his mouth. However, concerned that he may have already swallowed pieces of plastic, Charlie was driven 3 1/2 hours to The Turtle Hospital. Good thing! Charlie does have a small impaction visible on x-ray, which means he had in fact ingested some of the bag. Charlie is currently being given Vegetable Oil in his food to help him safely pass the impaction. Once the plastic has been passed, Charlie will be released offshore inside the Sargassum weedline.
UPDATE September 13th 2009:
Charlie was released over Labor Day Weekend! In less than one month, he had successfully passed the piece of ingested plastic bag and was ready to go home! Charlie was taken via boat to the Gulf Stream and released in a large mat of Sargassum.
Cletus is a hatchling Green sea turtle found at the bottom of his nest in the Marquesas. We quickly discovered that this little hatchling was unique! Something happened during his development inside the egg, and he was born with a lower jaw deformity. Birth defects can and do occur in sea turtles. Some debilitating, others manageable. Cletus is an active little sea turtle who loves food! When given chopped up squid tentacles for breakfast, he is able to eat on his own. It may take him a little longer than other hatchlings, but his tenacity makes up for time! For now, we will continue to monitor Cletus and his ability to eat, while he enjoys all the attention and free meals!
UPDATE 10/10/2009:
Sadly, our little Cletus did not survive the surgery to re-set his lower jaw. The surgery was necessary to give him a chance at returning home. Because Cletus is a Green sea turtle, an herbivore in the wild, his top and lower jaw must work together to tear sea grass and algae from their roots for food. His best chance at survival was to attempt the surgery early in life. Our vet and Turtle Hospital staff did everything possible for Cletus and he will truly be missed.
Evan Jackson, a dive boat captain with Atlantis Dive Center phoned the Turtle Hospital early this morning to report a small sea turtle floating in the canal behind the dive shop. Staff drove up to Key Largo and picked up the post hatchling Loggerhead Sea Turtle that had been rescued from the canal containing large tarpon and boat traffic.
Scooter should be in the Sargassum seaweed, floating far out in the ocean, which provides a food source and cover from predators. The (aprox) 6 week old turtle had either been “washed back” due to storms or was from a nearby nest and became disorientated. Being slightly emaciated, the treatment will be plenty of food and then a boat ride out to the Gulf Stream and placed in a Sargassum seaweed patch.
Scooter has been doing great since his rescue last year. Scooter is no longer the tiny emaciated hatchling we remember. Scooter is now a happy, healthy post hatchling Loggerhead sea turtle. If you ever had the opportunity to meet Scooter on your visit to the Turtle Hospital you probably remember this small turtle quickly swimming towards you, greeting you mouth open, looking for some squid! However, Scooter will not be released just yet. Most hatchling sea turtles have a short stay here at the hospital. As soon as they eat well we release them back into the Sargassum Weedline. However, we have found a place for this little Loggerhead as our educational animal. This means that when we attend schools or educational events we will bring him on the road with us to help teach people (especially children) about sea turtles and the danger they face. Once Scooter celebrates his 5th birthday, or reaches approximately 30 cm. he will be released.
A $500.00 reward is being offered by Richie Moretti for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person(s) illegally poaching sea turtles in the Keys. Although such an occurrence is increasingly rare, an adult Loggerhead sea turtle was found butchered on
For more on this story check out the Marathon Free Press, page 5: http://pdf.keysnews.com/weeklys/marathon.pdf