The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
By sponsoring the care of sea turtle Artichoke, 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 Artichoke 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 a personalized certificate and choice to have it mailed to your home or emailed.
Please allow 2 weeks for mailed certificate to arrive. Emailed certificates sent within 2 business days.
For questions about sponsoring, please contact wlmb@whitney.ufl.edu.
Artichoke has returned to their ocean home.
She's a Fighter!
“Artichoke” came to our hospital in March of 2021, with a chilly body temperature of 64 degrees (F), debilitated, with moderate Fibropapilloma (FP) tumor burden, and struggling with sever pneumonia. She weighed only 10 pounds and had only a 25% chance of surviving the first night. Artichoke spent her first night at the home of our Hospital Manager for "around the clock" monitoring. To our surprise, her will to live was stronger than expected. In the following days, Artichoke stayed in an oxygen chamber built by animal care staff, with help from Salty Paws Animal Hospital in Flagler Beach, who allowed us to borrow their oxygen concentrator. After a long 72 hours, Artichoke graduated to shallow water and started eating sea lettuce for us.
Today, after several months of intensive critical care using antibiotics, fluid therapy, vitamin supplements, and daily nebulizing treatments, Artichoke is improving. The pneumonia has resolved, this animal tips the scales at 13 pounds, and has already had two FP tumor removal surgeries. This animal still has a few mountains to climb, but we are hopeful for a full recovery and a successful return home.
Artichoke is the perfect example of how amazing sea turtles are. They are fighting their own pandemic made up of FP, climate change, and marine debris, just to name a few of the issues they face. They are fighters, however, and frequently are able to overcome these obstacles. Even though all of our patients have a special spot in her heart, Hospital Manager, Devon says “Artichoke is just one of those special cases that comes into your hospital and makes you stop and think. We used all of our resources when this animal first came in, her chance of survival over the first 72 hours was not good, but she fought alongside us. Her fight is far from over, but we’ll continue to overcome those obstacles together."