Turtle Hospital

I'm a bit behind but I had the opportunity to visit the Turtle Hospital in Marathon the weekend before Thanksgiving.  It is an $18 donation to the hospital to visit and all the money goes directly back into the care and rescue of injured sea turtles.  The hospital has both permanent residents and ones that will be released back into the wild once they are fully rehabilitated.  The injuries occur mostly from humans... whether hit by a boat that is speeding past and causing damage to its shell or from pollution and trash that the non discerning turtle has consumed and is unable to digest.  I've been pretty good for a few years about bringing my own cloth bags with me to the grocery store but after seeing turtles injured from eating plastic bags, it makes me want to be even more vigilant and avoid using plastic baggies in general.  Also, balloon releases that are often done to honor someone who has past away eventually end up in our ecosystem and into the stomachs or turtles or other animals that don't have the ability to digest the item and can eventually kill them.

The visit to the Turtle Hospital is well worth the time.  Any time I have taken a tour like this, the pure love and excitement of the tour guide, who is usually a biologist, is so infectious.  There was no doubt our guide just loves what she does and gets so excited to be around the turtles and see them heal.  The first 45 minutes is an inside tutorial portion, explaining more about the turtles in residence and sea turtles in general including what they eat, how big they get, and the problems that usually bring them to the hospital.  Then you get to walk through the hospital portion and see the operating rooms for the turtles.  The equipment is the same kind of equipment that is used on humans.

The final part of the tour is going out to actually visit the turtles.  You are not allowed to touch the turtles but the experience is still up close and personal.  There are two huge swimming pools with turtles swimming and playing that come for a closer look when the guide throws food to them.  These turtles are relatively healthy turtles that are either close to being released back to the ocean or are permanent residents due to a condition called "bubble butt" where their shell has been damaged allowing air to get into it and they are no longer able to dive down to get their food.  The scientists have come up with a weight system to attach to the shell that allows them to be better balanced but a turtle's shell is similar to human finger nails and will shed the outer part of the shell and eventually shed the weight itself so the weight will need to be reapplied.

Overall, the visit to the hospital was a great experience!  I came away from it more educated on the environment and the impact we have on it, plus just look at these cute faces :)