The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
By sponsoring the care of sea turtle Biodome 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 Biodome 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.
The month of March is usually the Sea Turtle Hospital’s busiest time of the year for strandings. We call it our “crusty green” season because most sea turtle stranding are green sea turtles that are washing ashore heavily covered in epibiota.
Epibiota consists of live organisms on the surface of another. Our patients are washing ashore with heavy epibiota loads of algae, barnacles, and other organisms living on their carapace (top shell). This is usually a good indication that these animals are debilitated and likely very sick. Green turtles usually like to be “clean” and are often seen using rocks and other structures in the wild to remove any foreign material like epibiota from their bodies.
March of 2024 has been especially busier than usual for these types of strandings. On March 5th our Animal Care Team received a call about a sea turtle that washed ashore at River to Sea Preserve (Marineland Beach), across the street from our hospital. Our Hospital Manager Devon and Animal Care Technician Kaylee quickly moved into action to rescue the animal, which is usually an easy task.
To their surprise, however, “BioDome” was very hard to find. Marineland Beach has a lot of coquina rocks along the shoreline. After extensively searching the beach, our 58th patient of the year was found disguised within the coquina rocks. If you look closely at the photos, you will be able to spot the sea turtle.
This sea turtle was heavily covered in all different types of epibiota. From barnacles of all sizes to small sea squirts, which made for great camouflage next to the coquina rocks. In addition to all the fun “Epi,” BioDome also had small Fibropapilloma (FP) tumors on his/her eyes and within the inguinal region (rear flippers). Since our naming theme for 2024 is one word movie titles, hospital staff decided the perfect name for this patient would be “BioDome”.
“BioDome” definitely washed in on the right beach and has received the best care with our team. We are looking forward to seeing this beautiful animal’s transformation during his/her time in rehab.
Thinking locally, acting globally!