an amazing trip...rescued turtles

I feel truly grateful that I was able to see and do so many things on this trip that others couldn’t ever dream of. My sister and I took a trip to The Turtle Hospital, in Marathon, Florida (the heart of the Florida Keys). We had been there before, but this trip was different. As with other trips, we listened to an educational presentation about sea turtles. Did you know that all six species of sea turtles are endangered? Can you believe that? The life of a sea turtle is usually tragic and lonely. I might be wrong on this statistic—but I think not—that only one in every 1,000 turtle hatchlings survives to its first birthday. Again, completely astonishing. We got the chance to see several of these species of sea turtles, including Loggerheads, Green, and Kemps-Ridley. Many turtles had been hit by boats and had damaged shells. A lot of these can be healed and released, but many have to live the remainder in their life in captivity. Some of the turtles we saw would eventually be released, but in the covered saltwater pool lived the turtles who would make The Turtle Hospital their home for the rest of their days. We saw a juvenile loggerhead turtle who had some type of neurological damage and seemed to keep swimming in circles. The most unfortunate patients can be those who develop fibropapilloma. These are pinkish, fleshy growths that often grow over so much of the turtle, especially its eyes, that it impairs their ability to survive. We actually got to see a surgery on Rosie the Loggerhead turtle. This was her second surgery to have the fibropapilloma tumors removed. The veterinarian uses a type of laser to remove the growths. These are benign growths, but they cause so many problems for these creatures that they need to be removed to ensure survival. Rosie would still have to have a third surgery to remove the last of the tumors. Only 10-20% of the tumors that are removed will grow back. Most remarkable about these surgeries is that the veterinarians who do these procedures are giving their time as volunteers. Here is a picture of Rosie the morning before the surgery and another picture of her during the surgery. The turtles are under anesthesia during the procedure, but they can only stay sedated for about 2 hours, which is in part what necessitates the multiple surgeries on some of these patients. I felt very lucky to be able to watch this procedure and know that I’m not the only one who feels so drawn to these modern dinosaurs. Thanks to The Turtle Hospital for their amazing work and to Rosie for letting us watch her surgery!