Sea Turtle Hospital News

Join the Sea Turtle at UF Whitney Laboratory as they celebrate World Sea Turtle Day at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida on June 16! Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patients Biodome and Hook returned to their ocean home during a public turtle release on May 31. They were released at River to Sea Preserve (Marineland Beach), directly across the street from the Whitney Laboratory. Read More

Welcome to our newest team member summer intern, Soleil Von Hausch! Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patients Zero and Luca returned to their ocean home on April 17. They were released at Marineland Beach, directly across the street from the Whitney Laboratory.  Read More

At the University of Florida 2024 Superior Accomplishment Awards on April 10th, 20 staff and faculty members from across the University of Florida were recognized including Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital Manager Devon Ramia. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital Manager Devon Ramia recently presented at the 27th Annual Florida Marine Turtle Permit Holder Meeting. The annual meeting assembles over 300 people from around Florida that work in sea turtle conservation and research. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Mr. Smee returned to their ocean home on March 14. They were released at Marineland Beach, directly across the street from the Whitney Laboratory. The stars were aligned perfectly this past Tuesday, with a beautiful day and calm seas. The perfect conditions for a last-minute release of our beloved Mr. Smee. Read More

The internship at The Sea Turtle Hospital at UF Whitney Lab is designed to be a career learning experience. Interns will gain first-hand experience in data collection, sanitation procedures, food preparation, and sea turtle husbandry. Read More

Congratulations to Sea Turtle Hospital Manager Devon Ramia for being nominated and selected through a very keen year of competition as a Superior Accomplishment Awardee by the University of Florida! Read More

Welcome to our newest team member winter intern, Gracie Harris! Gracie is a St. Augustine native who discovered her love for the ocean very early in life. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Pegasus returned to their ocean home on January 4 and had a private release at Ormond Beach, Florida. Sponsor families and friends were invited to attend. Read More

Some species are at risk because of climate change and a decline in wild spaces. But what's next for those species? Veterinarians and staff at the Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, Florida, are trying to answer that question. Read More

One of the Sea Turtle Hospital's fan favorites with his/her goofy personality returned to their ocean home on November 30. Sea Turtle Hospital patient Hei Hei received their swimming papers after six months of care and had a private release at Toronita Ave Beach Park in Wilbur by the Sea, Florida. Sponsor families and friends were able to attend. Read More

Thank you to all who have joined us to support washback sea turtles cared for by the Sea Turtle Hospital staff each year by Adopting a Washback, each symbolically named! We are getting closer to our goal, and adoptions are only available until Wednesday, November 1, so don't delay!  Read More

Happy 8th Anniversary of Saving Sea Turtles! Thank you for the steadfast support of all our guests, volunteers, interns, donors, followers, friends, family, and wonderful staff both past and present. The Sea Turtle Hospital's anniversary on October 24 was the same day as Taste of the Fun Coast, the foodie event at Hammock Beach Spa and Resort, that benefitted the Sea Turtle Hospital again this year. Read More

This year we would like to invite you to celebrate the Sea Turtle Hospital's 8th anniversary at our pop-up open house at the Sea Turtle Hospital at UF Whitney Lab on Friday, October 27 from 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Read More

Join the Sea Turtle Hospital at UF Whitney Laboratory to help support hundreds of washback turtles cared for by hospital staff each season by symbolically adopting a washback this fall, named* by you! When a gift of $20 or more is made to support the Sea Turtle Hospital, you will receive an email with your personalized washback adoption certificate. Read More

Welcome to our newest team member, Morgan Flanagan! She’s a familiar face at the Sea Turtle Hospital as she’s been volunteering in the hospital's husbandry department since early spring 2023. She now joins the Sea Turtle Hospital team as the fall intern. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Abu received their swimming papers and had a private release on September 28 at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital Program Manager Catherine Eastman was recently quoted in the National Geographic Story - Meet the dog who can find rare sea turtle nests at a shocking success rate. The terrier had a keen nose for turtles, identifying 560 turtle nests from three species. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Yzma received her swimming papers and was released on August 31 by Sea Turtle Hospital Veterinarian Dr. Brooke. Yzma had been cared for by Sea Turtle Hospital staff since April 2023. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Colonel received her swimming papers and had a private release on July 20 at Toronita Avenue Beach Park in Wilbur-By-The-Sea, Florida.  Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patients Zip-Tie and Bulldozer received their swimming papers and were released July 19 at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Rajah received their swimming papers and was released June 21 at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Read More

Sea Turtle Program Manager Catherine Eastman presented about the Sea Turtle Hospital rehabilitation and Dr. David Duffy’s research to the Jacksonville Herpetological Society at the Museum of Science and History (MOSH). Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce that it received a grant from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is funded by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. The Sea Turtle Hospital received the grant Critical Surgical Equipment for Intensive Care, enabling the Hospital to purchase a much needed oxygen concentrator and ventilator to aid in surgical procedures.  Read More

This year we would like to invite you to celebrate World Sea Turtle Day during our pop up open house at the Sea Turtle Hospital at UF Whitney Lab on Friday, June 16 from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Rajah received their swimming papers and was released June 21 at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Read More

Please welcome Leah Adelmann to Whitney Laboratory staff as the Sea Turtle Hospital's Animal Care Technician. Read More

The award-winning ZDF documentary series with actor, animal advocate and environmentalist Hannes Jaenicke released their latest documentary featuring the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory showcasing staff, fibropapilloma (FP) research, and hospital patients. Read More

Please welcome Lilli Longo to Whitney Laboratory! She recently joined the Sea Turtle Hospital as the summer intern. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Yardstick received their swimming papers and was released March 30 at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Rocket Power received their swimming papers and was released February 2 on Ormond Beach! Read More

Please welcome Harrison Hobbs to Whitney Laboratory! He recently joined the Sea Turtle Hospital as the winter intern. Read More

Rafter and Union marked a total of 66 animals the Sea Turtle Hospital has released since opening in October 2015. Read More

Thank you to all who have joined us to support washback sea turtles cared for by the Sea Turtle Hospital staff each year by Adopting a Washback, each symbolically named! We are halfway to our goal, and adoptions are only available until this Friday November 18th, so don't delay! Read More

Join us to help support washback sea turtles we care for at the Sea Turtle Hospital each season by symbolically Adopting a Washback, named by you*! When you make a gift of any amount you will receive a personalized washback adoption certificate within one business day of your donation via email. Your turtle support keeps the Sea Turtle Hospital going strong! Read More

The Taste of the Fun Coast event held on October 26 raised over $12,000 to support the Sea Turtle Hospital! Thank you to Flagler Broadcasting, Hammock Beach Resort and Coastal Cloud for your continued support of sea turtles and our Hospital. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patients Allen Wrench and Engineer received their swimming papers and were released on September 27. Allen Wrench was a public release at River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida and Engineer was a private release at Gamble Rogers State Park, Florida. Read More

Please welcome Kendra Trezona to Whitney Laboratory! She recently joined the Sea Turtle Hospital as the fall intern. Read More

In keeping with its Guy Harvey marine-life conservation brand, Guy Harvey Oceanfront Resort St. Augustine Beach is sponsoring Sea Turtle Hospital patient Allen Wrench’s care and medical supplies as he is nursed back to health. The resort is introducing various informational and promotional programs to encourage guests to participate in Allen Wrench’s rehab and receive updates on his future release. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patients Artichoke and Granny Smith received their swimming papers and were released at River to Sea Preserve on July 14. Thank you to everyone who helped welcome Artichoke and Granny Smith home! Read More

We are excited to announce that Artichoke and Granny Smith plan to be released on Thursday, July 14 at 11:00 a.m. at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Both animals are happy, heathy, and ready to return home to their ocean home! Read More

This year we would like to invite you to celebrate World Sea Turtle Day during our mini open house at the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab on Friday, June 17 from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Read More

Want to make a difference? You can sponsor some of our current Sea Turtle Hospital patients! Your sponsorship goes directly into the care of your selected patient. Help make a difference today on this very special Earth Day! Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient "Pesto" was released at Marineland Beach on March 22, 2022. Pesto had been in our care since May 2021, after arriving from New Smyrna. Read More

The Sea Turtle Hospital team will be shellebrating at Turtle Fest in support of the Volusia Turtle Patrol this Saturday. Stop by and help them gear up for nesting season! Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Avocado received her swimming papers and was released at Gamble Rogers State Park in Flagler County on January 4. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Kiwi was released at Washington Oaks State Park on December 9. The release was shown live on the Sea Turtle Hospital's Facebook. Read More

If you love sea turtles, and want to help us in our efforts at the Sea Turtle Hospital, you can sponsor some of our current patients! On average a patients stay is anywhere between six months to 15 months and a lot goes into their devoted care. Essential items like medical supplies, medications, and food are able to be purchased by our sea turtle sponsorship program. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Grape was released at Marineland Beach, directly across the street from Whitney Lab on November 18. Grape is a small juvenile green turtle that was found buoyant and struggling to dive in St. Augustine at Camachee Cove Marina on March 18. Read More

Thank you to all who have joined us to support hundreds of washback sea turtles cared for by the Sea Turtle Hospital staff each year by Adopting a Washback, each symbolically named! Adoptions available until October 31. Read More

The Taste of the Fun Coast event at Hammock Beach Resort is tomorrow, October 26 - food, drinks and fun benefiting the Sea Turtle Hospital! Read More

TODAY is the day! It is your chance to virtually ADOPT A WASHBACK sea turtle to support the care of turtles! Click below to name a cute little washback - but pick your name and hurry, our campaign ends 10/31! Read More

Please welcome Tori Summers to Whitney Laboratory staff as the Sea Turtle Hospital's Animal Care Technician. Read More

The Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce that Assistant Professor of Wildlife Disease Genomics and Rising Star Condron Family Endowed Assistant Professor Dr. David Duffy received a grant for $26,355 from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is funded by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. He received the grant for a project to study the health impacts of near-ubiquitous plastic ingestion in Florida’s young turtles. Read More

We are excited to announce that we will release Goya on Thursday, September 2 at 1 p.m. at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Read More

Congratulations to Liam Whitmore, Jessica Farrell, Kelsey Yetsko, Devon Rollinson Ramia, Dr. Brooke Burkhalter, Dr. David Duffy and their colleagues who recently published a paper titled 'Evolutionary Comparisons of Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) Genomes from Fibropapillomatosis-Afflicted Green (Chelonia mydas), Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and Kemp’s Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) Sea Turtles' in Animals. Read More

After five months of treatment, recovery and rehab, Asparagus, a 32-pound juvenile green sea turtle, swam back into the ocean not far from where she was stranded in Flagler County in early spring. Read More

Asparagus, a green sea turtle and the Hospital’s 1st release of 2021, was outfitted with a satellite transmitter and released from the beach on the border of St Johns and Flagler counties. Follow along on her incredible journey. Read More

We are excited to announce that we will release Asparagus on Tuesday, July 20 at 12 p.m. at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida. Prior to release, Asparagus will be fitted with a satellite tag from a partnership between the Sea Turtle Conservancy and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources! Read More

Please join us to support the Sea Turtle Hospital by sponsoring the care of one of these current hospital patients. Your sponsorship can provide them with important medical supplies, nutritious food, critical exams and other types of care provided while at the Sea Turtle Hospital. Read More

Congratulations to Sea Turtle Hospital Staff and Whitney Faculty and Students who recently published a paper titled "Environmental DNA monitoring of oncogenic viral shedding and genomic profiling of sea turtle fibropapillomatosis reveals unusual viral dynamics" in Communications Biology. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital Program Manager Catherine Eastman talks with the St. Augustine Record about nesting season that began May 1 and what you can do to ensure turtles and their hatchlings stay safe as they come ashore to lay eggs. Read More

Catherine Eastman and Taryn Chaya recently presented at this symposia that brings together the community and offers the opportunity to gain greater insight into the research, education and stewardship activities taking place throughout the GTM Research Reserve by their staff, partners and academic institutions. Read More

Already this year, the hospital has cared for more than half of last year's case load. Read More

On February 24 Sea Turtle Program Manager Catherine Eastman presented to a classroom of eager students from Rymfire Elementary as part of the Scientist in Every Florida School program. Her thirty minute talk focused on different species of sea turtles, how the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory treats sea turtle patients, and how sea turtles are unique reptiles. Read More

Registration is now open for the 2021 Whitney Laboratory Fun with Plankton Summer Day Camp and Sea Turtle Summer Camp! Read More

Congratulations to Sea Turtle Hospital Staff and Whitney Faculty who recently published a paper titled "Molecular characterization of a marine turtle tumor epizootic, profiling external, internal and postsurgical regrowth tumors" in Communications Biology. Read More

Please welcome Kaylee Hargis to Whitney Laboratory as the Sea Turtle Hospital's Animal Care Technician. Kaylee Hargis grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and is a recent 2020 graduate from the University of Dayton. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital patient Edward Scissorhands returned to her ocean home on December 3, after one year of intensive and interesting care at the Sea Turtle Hospital. Edward Scissorhands was a social media favorite and captured the hearts of everyone who learned her unique story. Read More

Oceana recently published a report, "Choked, Strangled, Drowned: The Plastics Crisis Unfolding in Our Oceans," that included data from the Sea Turtle Hospital's recently published paper on Plastic Ingestion in Post-hatchling Sea Turtles. Oceana reveals for the first time the available data on marine mammals and sea turtles swallowing or becoming entangled in plastic in U.S. waters. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital Program Manager Cat Eastman and Dr. David Duffy talk with First Coast News about sea turtle hatchlings that come to the hospital and what they have discovered in the First Coast News story. Read More

If you missed our Sip 'N Science recently with Catherine Eastman the webinar is now on our YouTube channel. Read More

The Sea Turtle Hospital was recently featured in the Daytona News Journal article - Sea Turtle Hospital sees increasing number of injured turtles Read More

The Sea Turtle Hospital was recently featured in the Palm Coast Observer article - Sea Turtle Hospital researches illness affecting green sea turtles. Read More

Due to Eta storm bands/conditions we are receiving a lot of turtles and have to postpone tonight's talk to November 19 at 6 p.m. We hope to see you then! Catherine Eastman will be sharing our recent sea turtle stories and their care, and latest news from the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory. We will have an interactive Q & A after the update to discuss sea turtles and your questions about them. Come prepared with your sea turtle questions! Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital at UF Whitney Laboratory staff released a very special sea turtle November 4, 2020 at 12:56 p.m. “Richard Dawkins,” a mid-sized juvenile green sea turtle, the Hospital’s 36th patient of 2020, was outfitted with a satellite transmitter and released from the beach on the border of St Johns and Flagler counties. This is the first satellite tagged patient rehabbed from the Sea Turtle Hospital. Read More

Thank you to Flagler Radio Beach 92.7 FM, Hammock Beach Resort and Coastal Cloud for benefiting the conservation of sea turtles and our Sea Turtle Hospital! Read More

Thank you to all who have joined us to support hundreds of washback sea turtles cared for by the Sea Turtle Hospital staff each year by Adopting a Washback, each symbolically named! Adoptions available until Oct.31. Read More

TODAY is the day! It is your chance to virtually ADOPT A WASHBACK sea turtle to support the care of turtles! Click below to name a cute warrior washback - but pick your name and hurry, our campaign ends 10/31! Read More

We are so excited for the funding awarded from the Sea Turtle Grants Program this year to purchase our spiffy new Sea Turtle Stranding and Transport Van. The van helps us with turtle transport, triage, and standings. We are very grateful for this year's grant from the Sea Turtle Grants Program. Read More

Sea Turtle Hospital Program Manager Cat Eastman talks with News4Jax about discovering potentially harmful quantities of plastic in post hatchling turtles. Read More

Congratulations to Sea Turtle Hospital and Whitney Laboratory faculty and staff who recently published a paper in Frontiers in Marine Science on plastic ingestion by post-hatchlings. This research was also featured in an article in The Conversation. Read More

Sea Turtle Eugenie Clark was released August 20 on Facebook Live. Eugenie Clark is our first release of 2020 and her name is from our 5th year naming theme where we name turtles after marine scientists or scientists that specialized in marine organisms as part of their life's work. Read More

Our essential staff keep us going in tough times! How the people of UF's Whitney Laboratory protected their animals — and each other — during COVID-19. Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce that it received a grant for $28,987.14 from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is funded by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. The Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory received the grant to support a new sea turtle transport vehicle. Read More

We are so grateful for all the support you've given us and we hope you enjoy the next week starting with World Oceans Day on Monday and ending on World Sea Turtle Day next Tuesday. Join in on all the fun as we participate in daily themes on Facebook and Instagram to help raise awareness on the many challenges sea turtles face in the ocean today including a Sea Turtle Hospital Scavenger Hunt - details below! Read More

Thank you to Dr. Liz Watson, DVM MS DACVR of Veterinary Imaging in Flagler Beach who recently donated an ultrasound machine to the Sea Turtle Hospital, that the Sea Turtle staff named Eve. Read More

Congratulations to Dr. David Duffy and Dr. Brooke Burkhalter who recently published a paper about rehabilitation of tumor-afflicted sea turtles, and their utilization as a natural model for human and wildlife cancers in Springer Nature titled "When is a lab animal not a lab animal?" Read More

Congratulations to the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory who was Beaver Toyota's WOW Partner of the Month for February! Read More

Congratulations to Sea Turtle Hospital Manager Devon Ramia who was recently featured in Unity College’s Alumni Stories. Read More

The Whitney Laboratory and Sea Turtle Hospital joined other organizations and partners in the Capitol Rotunda in Tallahassee for Florida Oceans Day on February 25, 2020. Read More

Sea Turtles Mars was released January 24 at River to Sea Preserve in the town of Marineland. Read More

Sea Turtles Autumn and Dumbo were released October 16 at River to Sea Preserve. Autumn came to us on the first day of fall after stranding in Huguenot Memorial Park. Dumbo came to us on Sunday, September 29th after a fisherman caught him on hook and line. Read More

Congratulations to the Sea Turtle Hospital team, Veterinarian Brooke Burkhalter, Dr. Mark Martindale and Dr. David Duffy on their recent paper "Behaviour of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) before and after fibropapillomatosis tumour removal" in Testudo. Read More

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 and came to us with a very interesting story. Read More

Dr. Brooke Burkhalter, Sea Turtle Hospital Veterinarian, and colleagues recently published the book, Laser Surgery in Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Burkhalter and Dr. Terry Norton authored the chapter "Laser Surgery in Aquatic Animals (Sea Turtles)" in Part IV Laser Surgery in Exotics Species. Read More

Kadarius was released back home to the Atlantic Ocean on June 27th at Gamble Rogers State Park. Kadarius was recovered by a fisherman who found him floating in Ponce Inlet on January 24th, 2018. Read More

The Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital along with Sea Turtle Conservancy will hold Sea Turtle Discovery Day at the Whitney Laboratory on Saturday, June 15. Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce that it received a grant starting in May for $16,695 from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is funded by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. Read More

Holly stranded in Ponce Inlet in Volusia County during the holiday season, which led this sea turtle to be named Holly. Upon arrival to the Sea Turtle Hospital, Holly was a cold stun and suffering from a mild case of fibropapillomatosis. Read More

Hartley was found floating in the Indian River Lagoon, unable to completely dive due to buoyancy issues. Upon arrival, this sea turtle had a severe case of FP tumors on both eyes, both front flippers, neck, shell and had a thin body condition. Read More

Please welcome Ashley Taylor to Whitney Laboratory as the Sea Turtle Hospital's Veterinary Technician. She graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor’s degree in marine biology. Read More

Please welcome Briana Schaffner to Whitney Laboratory as the Sea Turtle Hospital's Animal Care Technician. She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Biological Sciences from Florida Atlantic University with a concentration in pre-veterinary medicine. Read More

The UF Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital discusses sea turtle strandings and what you can do on Action News Jax. Read More

Congratulations to Dr. David Duffy, courtesy faculty at Whitney Lab, and Dr. Mark Martindale, director and professor of biology at Whitney Lab, for their recent publication in Communications Biology titled “Perspectives on the expansion of human precision oncology and genomic approaches to sea turtle fibropapillomatosis.” Read More

This year staff and researchers of the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab were proud to present at the Florida Keys Sea Turtle Workshop held the first weekend in December. Read More

Seafoam and Gene Johnson, patients of the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory, were released back home to the Atlantic Ocean on August 14, 2018. Read More

The work by the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory team was featured in an article by UF at Work. The article is titled “The Whitney Lab Sea Turtle Hospital: Helping some of Florida’s endangered residents heal and head back home.” Read More

An article written by Jessica Farrell, graduate student here at Whitney Lab, was written for The Conversation and picked up by Smithsonian.com. Read More

The article titled “Spirit of the Deep Blue Sea” by University of Florida Advancement shares the story of Nancy Condron, a Florida Gator, and her continued support of Whitney Laboratory and the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory. Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce that it received a grant starting in May for $20,581 from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is funded by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. Read More

The spring Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series hosted by the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory concluded on June 14, 2018, at 7 p.m. with the program titled “Emerging Research and Conservation of Sea Turtles - in Honor of World Sea Turtle Day.” With a nod to World Sea Turtle Day on the Saturday following the lecture, a panel of experts on sea turtle research and conservation provided an interactive lecture. Read More

Cutting-edge research by Dr. David Duffy, courtesy faculty at Whitney Laboratory and former postdoc in the Martindale Lab, and the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory team has been covered by multiple publications, including UF News and Science. Read More

Congratulations to Jessica Farrell, graduate student in the Martindale Lab, for receiving a Friends of Gumbo Limbo Gordon Gilbert Graduate Research Grant. Read More

We are pleased to announce that Tater Tot was released on Wednesday, May 2, 2018, at 12 p.m. at the River to Sea Preserve public beach. Read More

Spots are still available for the 2018 Sea Turtle Summer Camp. Read More

The Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab was featured in the Pelican Post‘s Fall 2017 issue. The article shared information about the hospital’s focus on rehabilitation, research and education. The article also talked about the achievements of the hospital in 2017. Read More

Mean Joe Green and Tamatoa were released on Thursday, July 13, 2017, at 1 p.m. at the north end of Crescent Beach. Mean Joe Green stranded on Crescent Beach on Feb. 6, 2016. Joe was cold stunned and suffering from fibropapillomatosis (FP). Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce today, on World Sea Turtle Day, that it received a grant starting in May for $18,348 from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is funded by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. Read More

We are pleased to announce that the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab released Barnett in Salt Run on June 7, 2017, in Anastasia State Park. A dedicated crowd of sea turtle enthusiasts attended the rainy release to wish Barnett well as he/she went back home. Read More

We are pleased to announce that Periwinkle (or Peri as we affectionately know him) was released on May 23, 2017, at 10 a.m. at the River to Sea Preserve public beach (known as Marineland beach) on World Turtle Day. Read More

Take a look at this video featuring Whitney Laboratory’s David Duffy, postdoctoral researcher, and Mark Martindale, director, that shares about the Sea Turtle Hospital’s work and research on the fibropapilloma virus found in sea turtles. Read More

Thank you to the Paterson Islanders, a First Lego League (FLL) Robotics Team, from Paterson Elementary School in Fleming Island, Florida for their support of the Sea Turtle Hospital. Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab is pleased to announce that it will host its One-Year Anniversary Open House on Dec. 11, 2016, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Whitney Lab campus, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd. Read More

Thank you to everyone who attended the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab One-Year Anniversary Open House! We appreciate everyone helping us celebrate this important milestone. More than 350 people attended the open house. Read More

In April, University of Florida Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital received a grant for $15,000 from the Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program, which is financed by the sales of the sea turtle specialty license plate. Read More

On Sept. 21, 2016, the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab released Sebod, and Nat Geo Wild was there to film the release. Filipe Deandrade was on assignment and shared the release through a live video on the Nat Geo Wild Facebook page. Read More

We are pleased to announce that the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab released Apollo Squidlips and Major on Sept. 7, 2016, at 11 a.m. near the Apollo Visitor Center at 7611 South Atlantic Ave., New Smyrna Beach. Read More

The Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab is pleased to announce that it is now offering tours on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. Tours are $10 per person, and reservations are required. There is a limit of 10 people per tour. Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab is pleased to announce that it released its seventh sea turtle, Banana, on Aug. 24, 2016, at Kelly Park East, 2550 N. Banana River Drive in Merritt Island. Read More

The University of Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory is pleased to announce that it released Mudpie, a green juvenile sea turtle, on July 13, 2016, in Salt Run at Lighthouse Park in St. Augustine. Read More

On Monday, June 20, 2016, at the River to Sea Preserve beach, the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Lab released Cisco Kid. This was the hospital’s first release of a turtle treated for fibropappilomatosis, which is a disease that causes internal and external tumors to grow on the sea turtle, inhibiting normal functioning. Read More

The University of Florida Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital is now using advanced carbon dioxide laser technology in the treatment of its sea turtle patients that are infected with the Fibropapilloma virus (FP). Read More