Visit to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon

About a two blocks down from the Marina is the Marathon Turtle rescue and hospital.  I attended one of their educational tours.  They also speak at local schools and organizations, I would love to have something like this at home.  Presently the hospital has 23 turtles. Four to five of them are permanent residents because they will never be self sufficient enough to be released in the wild.  I learned that there are seven species of sea turtles in the world. Two of those seven can only be found off the coast of Australia and New Zealand.  The turtles that can be found in the Keys are; The Loggerhead who eats shrimp, lobster and conch can weigh up to 300 pounds. The Green eats mainly sea grasses and can weigh up to 500 pounds. He is named after the green fat in his body.  The Hawksbill eats mainly sponges and can weigh up to 150 pounds. The Leatherback feeds mainly on jellyfish and is the largest reptile alive weighing up to 2000 pounds!  Finally the Kemps Ridley eats mainly crabs and shrimp and can weigh up to 100 pounds.  All five of these turtles are ENDANGERED!  There are several threats to turtle survival in the Keys.  Fishing line, rope from lobster and crab traps, boat hits, oil spills, coastal development that destroys their nesting areas, intestinal impaction, and Fibropapilloma tumors. Because the Leatherback feeds mainly on jellyfish and plastic bags in the water resemble a floating jellyfish the result is impaction and death.  Because cigarette buts resemble the color of shrimp they are a hazard.  Those turtles that feed on sea grasses may also ingest pieces of garbage thrown into waters by man and caught in the grasses.  We must remember that much of what we throw in or allow to go into our sewers, and rivers eventually ends up in our oceans so we must all be more vigilant.  If you would like to learn more about the hospital and or support their efforts visit www.turtlehospitalstore.com

                                                                Examination and X-ray

Another view of the X-ray room

            Surgery room - They are hoping to purchase a heated table to reduce trauma to the turtle

Turtles do not breath automatically like humans because they only breathe when they surface. Oxygen must be hand pumped into the turtle while they are in surgery    
                   

 This little turtle had an impaction. Impaction's and trauma cause the turtle to become a floater, meaning they cannot dive for safety or feeding. She has actually learned to wrap her flipper around the toy to keep her down in the water. If not found and corrected they starve or are killed by predators. Impaction's are treated with Metamucil, beano for the gas and other intestine flushing medicines. If successful they will regain their ability to dive and be released in 3 months to a year depending on the severity of the impaction.

                      These are individual tanks for turtles that just come in or are very ill.  Green turtles are those that suffer from the tumors. The tumors will blind them and grow so large they cannot use their flippers. The tumors cause a sever drop in red blood cells. The red count must be increased before surgery can take place to remove the tumors.  Unfortunately they have found that the virus that causes the tumors is contagious and it looks like it is being caused by pollution.

 The netting over the small tanks keeps any animal such as a raccoon from getting to the iddy biddy turtles.

 This is a syndrome known as Bubble Butt - no kidding.  It is caused by a direct hit to the shell by boats causing deformities of the shell. Since the spine is connected to the shell this turtle is a permanent resident as he cannot dive without assistance. A weight has been glued to his back to help him get around a little better.

 This turtle is also a permanent resident. He is paralyzed from the back end, including back flippers from a boat hit.  You can see the weight glued to his back. This allows him to float straight rather than be head down all of the time.

                     A view of more of the tanks and the large pool area for the larger residents

                         This is a miracle turtle. He was found wrapped up in a lobster trap which caused him to loose one flipper. While tangled he was attacked by a shark that took off his other flipper and caused bite injuries. He is recovering and has learned to swim with two flippers.

             If you look closely you can see the tumors on the back of his head, and over his eyes.