Turtle Hospital

Monday, March 1
Posted by: Max Tabet

Today, making our way to Big Cypress Seminole reservation, we made a stop at the turtle hospital. We left SeaCamp around 9 AM and met our new our guide: Buddy. Buddy has lived in Florida for over 30 years. He has a zest for life, is passionate about the natural world and he understand the importance of preserving the Florida Everglades and its surrounding ecosystems.

When we arrived at the turtle hospital, I did not expect much. From the outside it looked like a 1950's motel, and that is because it was! Green, the only color in its art deco theme, lightly covered the walls and shrouded the roof. I soon learned that this hospital was a hotel whose saltwater pool had been converted into a turtle rehab pool in the 1980's.

Although it looks dated, and its technology is not very advanced, the turtle hospital saves an average of 70-90 turtles a year. However, Florida suffered a recent cold spell, which brought the water temperature down to 52 degrees F. This drop in temperature caused the local sea turtles to go into hypo-thermic shock. Faced with a massive challenge, the turtle hospital saved around 170 sea turtles (every room was booked and outfitted with space heaters and kiddie pools to help warm the core temperature of these animals). They only lost one, have released most of the others, and this all occurred in a one week span of time.

Seeing these fascinating animals in their tanks opened my eyes to the relentless environment that sea turtles have to deal with. One turtle, named Johny, was attacked with a machete and suffered lacerations to the skull. His future looked bleak, but the turtle hospital was able to rehabilitate him to full health.

If you want to learn more about the turtle hospital, please go to: www.turtlehospital.org. You can watch turtle surgeries, become a facebook fan and donate money that will go directly to the rehabilitation of these magnificent sea animals.