From Beach to Turtle Center

Ethan and Jax Scouring the Shore for Treasure

What can I say about another day on vacation in Florida with the sun, the clouds, the passing rain storms and the excitement of life along the Atlantic Ocean? I love it!

Yesterday began with another beach experience. We rescued our second loggerhead turtle hatchling in two days, making four distressed hatchlings for the trip. This one required the assistance of the Loggerhead Marinelife Center as it was on the beach, exhausted and not able to swim strongly enough to overcome the waves crashing onto the beach.

Loggerhead Turtle Hatchling on the Beach

The good news is that we took it to the center where it will be allowed to recover and then released. The bad news is that it abruptly ended the beach experience for the day. But the entire family got into the idea of rescuing the small turtle which clearly was not going to make it on its own.

Nearly Full Grown Loggerhead Turtle at the Turtle Center

Although initially we just dropped the young turtle off to the welcoming staff, we did return to the Center later in the day to get more educated about turtles and their rescue efforts. We got to see nearly full grown loggerhead turtles recovering from injuries and many juvenile green turtles also recovering from illness. It seems that power station water exhaust channels are especially dangerous for turtles as that is where many of the ones recovering in the center were found.

Jax and Ethan received certificates for rescuing the small, helpless loggerhead hatchling. Upon examination, the turtle appeared to have suffered injuries during a probable scuffle with a predator. Hopefully, the small turtle they rescued will be one of the lucky ones who did not become a meal or escape only to die on the beach and will grow to become an adult turtle.

Just another great day in Florida!!

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL