The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
By sponsoring the care of sea turtle Adrift you'll be supporting the Sea Turtle Hospital and the work we do to research, rehab and release these amazing animals. Your sponsorship can provide Adrift important medical supplies, nutritious food, critical exams and other types of care provided while at the Sea Turtle Hospital.
Suggested amount to sponsor the care of a turtle is $50. We appreciate gifts above $50 as well.
For joining us, you'll receive:
You can even give a turtle sponsorship as a gift!
Please allow 2 weeks for mailed certificate to arrive. Emailed certificates sent within 3-4 business days.
For questions about sponsoring, please contact wlmb@whitney.ufl.edu.
On April 7th our 103rd patient for 2024 was found by a local paddleboarder on the Matanzas River. “Adrift” was found floating and unable to dive. Florida Fish and Wildlife was called, and the turtle was taken to our hospital for evaluation.
Upon arrival, the animal care staff noted that this animal was very small and likely around two years old, based on the size of the animal on intake. “Adrift” only weighed 1.6 kg (roughly 3.5 lbs.). Green sea turtles can weigh up to 350 lbs. as adults.
When a new patient arrives at our hospital, a complete exam is performed. The exam includes body weight, length and width measurements of the carapace (top part of shell), and a thorough examination of all areas of the animal. Animal care staff looks over, in detail, the animal’s eyes, mouth, all four flippers, carapace (top of shell), and plastron (bottom of shell). This exam is important in determining if the turtle has any Fibropapilloma (FP) tumors. When FP tumors are identified, sea turtles become long-term patients in our hospital. This allows the animals to become “healthy” while in our care and to have FP tumor removal surgery. If no FP tumors are identified, our hospital will triage and transfer patients to another facility.
Adrift was confirmed as a patient with FP tumors during his/her initial examination and began treatment in our hospital. It can take several months or, in some cases, a year or more (6 patients so far) in our care before being considered for release. After Adrift’s intake exam, the animal care team needed to clean off all the marsh mud and barnacles that were covering Adrift’s carapace. After cleaning off a half pound of marsh mud and barnacles, complete x-rays were taken to look at what was going on inside. Dr. Brooke uses X-rays to thoroughly examine the GI for obstructions, gas and/or feces that could have caused a sea turtle like Adrift to become buoyant and be found floating at the surface.
After reviewing Adrift’s X-rays, Dr. Brooke concluded the GI was within normal limits and approved Adrift's introduction into one of our rehabilitation tanks. Once a patient is in our rehabilitation tanks, our animal care team spends time observing the turtle's behavior and can begin offering a seafood diet. At this point, Adrift eagerly ate all seafood that was offered. We are looking forward to watching Adrift progress in our care and look forward to her rehabilitation success.