Sea Turtle Mantis was released Tuesday July 16 at Wilbur-by-the-Sea in Volusia County.
Mantis was recovered on the beach of Ponce Inlet. She was transferred to us from Volusia Marine Science Center for treatment of her fibropapilloma tumors on January 18, 2019. Mantis came to us with a very interesting story. She had what the triage team thought to be a stingray barb imbedded underneath her right flipper. Upon further investigation, and some collaboration with local biologists, the stingray barb was actually a spearing mantis shrimp claw. She had small tumors on her left eye and around each of her flippers. Mantis received one surgery to remove all of her tumors and clean out the material found inside the mantis shrimp wound to help the area heal better. She had always been enthusiastic about her seafood and greens and did very well with all of the food-based enrichment she received during her behavioral observations. Our photogenic patient was all healed up and ready to go back into the ocean!