I am a Loggerhead Sea Turtle.  I hatched from my nest on the beaches of the East Coast of Florida in the summer of 2019. Researchers at the Florida Atlantic University collected me to find out the gender of the hatchlings in the nest. Warmer temperature nest will produce Females and cooler temperature nests will produce males. The temperature climate change is producing almost all females. Ethel is a female. I am healthy and will be spending aproximately the first two years of my life at The Turtle Hospital, where I will safely grow big and strong. This is called a “Head Start Program” and it helps to increase wild sea turtle populations, as only 1 in 600 survive the first few years of life. Since I am not sick, I am able to leave the hospital and help educate children and adults.

5.21.2020 UPDATE: Not quite a year old yet but Ethel sure has grown. 

Size comparison by ruler. December 2019 – May 2020

9/14/2021:Released