The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
Sea Turtle Hospital patients Artichoke and Granny Smith received their swimming papers and were released at River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida on July 14. Artichoke received care at the Sea Turtle Hospital for a year and 5 months and Granny Smith received care for 8 months. Thank you to everyone who helped welcome Artichoke and Granny Smith home and all the smiles and posters! Photo credit: @exposingdano
Green sea turtles 'Artichoke' and 'Granny Smith' released from turtle hospital
Artichoke first arrived in March 2021. She was thin and weighed only 10lbs. In June 2022 during her veterinary exam Artichoke tipped the scales at 15lbs!
Adult green sea turtles are herbivores. Juvenile green sea turtles, like Artichoke, are omnivores. In the beginning of Artichoke’s care, she received a variety of protein including mackerel, herring, shrimp, and squid, weighed out to 2% of her body weight. She also received a green feeder, which included green leaf, red leaf, and romaine lettuce, green bell pepper, and cucumbers. It was a complete omnivore diet.
In her final stages of rehab she’s gained plenty of weight and Dr. Brooke discontinued her seafood diet and staff gave her a green feeder, natural sea grasses, and sea lettuce, in preparation for release. Staff worked hard to desensitize her to human care by avoiding interaction when feeding. She received her green feeder, which sinks to the bottom of her rehab tank and allows her to eat how she naturally would in the wild, off the bottom of the ocean. We snuck in handfuls of sea lettuce, which flows within the water column of her rehab tank, to help her use her natural feeding instincts.
Granny Smith received his third, and final, FP tumor removal surgery, making him “tumor free" in June. When a patient becomes “tumor free", it usually means about 8 to 10 more weeks of care: bloodwork, fluid therapy, and wound care. Granny Smith received weekly wound care on his incision sites, and Dr. Brooke was very happy with how those areas were healing.
Granny Smith weighs 24lbs, which made weekly wound care extra fun for staff. Granny Smith has his own tank with plenty of room to relax and recover from his surgeries. He receives 100 grams worth of mackerel, herring, shrimp, and squid and a daily green feeder packed with green leaf, red leaf, and romaine lettuce, green bell peppers and cucumbers — a complete omnivore diet!