Sea Turtle Hospital patient Maui returned to their ocean home on December 18! Maui was released at River to Sea Marineland Beach. Thank you to all of the sponsorship families for supporting their care and recovery.
Maui made a dramatic entrance into the Sea Turtle Hospital's care after being found washed ashore five miles south of the hospital, becoming the 205th patient of the year and the second-largest patient they've ever treated. Weighing in at 55 lbs, this subadult green sea turtle carried the scars of a difficult past, including two old, but mostly healed boat strike wounds across the carapace. These injuries are a reminder of the challenges sea turtles face in the wild—and just how resilient they can be. Maui also arrived with moderate fibropapillomatosis (FP), with tumor clusters on all four flippers and a small tumor near the cloaca, as well as a moderate epibiota load of barnacles and marine leeches.