Day 174 – S is for Sea Turtle

Yesterday Mommy-o, Daddy-o, Mimi, Bubba, and I went to the sea turtle hospital.  When boaters or divers see injured turtles they report it.  Then a rescue team comes out to take the turtle to the hospital.

We did the tour of the hospital and turtle tanks. The tour started as a presentation about the five species of sea turtles that inhabit Florida, all of which are endangered.  The five species are: leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, green and hawksbill.  After that, we looked at the sea turtle surgery room.  There was a TV screen that showed pictures of turtles on the surgery table, and one turtle was about 6 feet long!  When we were walking to the turtle tank we passed by what is now storage, but used to be a motel.  Also, the motel pool is now used for permanent turtle residents (hee hee!).

Saying ‘hi’ to a patient

One of the most interesting turtles had external tumors.  The tumors looked like kneaded erasers stuck on the turtle.  Another interesting one was a hatchling.  It was so tiny and cute!

This is smaller than my hand

I also liked looking at the one with bubble butt syndrome.  Bubble butt syndrome happens when a boat hits a turtle’s back.  A sea turtle’s lungs are right under the shell.  When the boat squeezes the turtle’s lungs, the air has to go somewhere, which is right under the back of the shell.  This makes the turtle float.  Since sea turtles eat sea grass, when they’re floating on top, they can’t get food because sea grass is on the bottom.. The turtle hospital puts weights on the turtle shell to allow the turtle to dive.  But just like we lose hair, turtles lose their shell plates.  So eventually the weights fall off.  When the weights fall off, the turtle’s just floating back on top again.  Because of this the turtle cannot be released into the wild.

Can you see the weights on it’s shell?

After the tour, we went over to the gift shop to see if anybody wanted anything.  I chose to do the adopt-a-turtle program.  You pay $35, but Mommy and I split the price.  Next, you choose which turtle you want to help.  The money you paid helps that turtle.

I didn’t know working hospitals could be that fun! 🙂