Mote Marine Laboratory

Leatherback Sea Turtle in Rehab at Mote

By: Nadine Slimak

A leatherback sea turtle was rescued from Big Hickory Island in Lee County on Jan. 5, 2010 and brought to Mote Marine Laboratory for rehabilitation. (Read another story about this turtle's release.)

Leatherback turtles are the largest living reptiles in the world and are the largest and most endangered of all sea turtle species. It is uncommon to see leatherback turtles in Southwest Florida and even less common to attempt to rehabilitate a sick animal of this species to return it to the wild.

The nearly 800-pound turtle was brought to Mote by Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after it stranded. According to Rhonda Bailey, biologist with Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the turtle first stranded in Collier County on Jan. 4, 2010, but was coaxed back into the water by staff from Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park and Collier's County's Parks and Recreation Department. The turtle restranded the following day in Lee County on Big Hickory Island. Turtle Time Inc., Lovers Key State Park rangers, members of Lee County's Department of Natural Resources and staff from Pelican Landing rescued the stranded turtle by boat and brought it to the Carl Johnson boat ramp at Lovers Key State Park so Bailey could transport the turtle to Mote.

Upon the turtle's arrival at Mote, veterinary staff took blood samples and have been providing fluids and other supportive medical care since then. Experts are always reluctant to bring this species of turtle in for treatment because they do not typically do well in confined settings, according to Dr. Andy Stamper, Mote veterinarian. "Plan A was to get the animal back in the water, Plan B was to bring it into the hospital," Stamper said. The turtle could be released within days, he said.

Unlike other species of sea turtle, leatherbacks do not have hard shells. Instead they have very delicate skin covering their entire bodies. Leatherback turtles are also a pelagic, or deep water, species that doesn't commonly encounter boundaries, making it difficult for them to adapt to a confined setting for treatment. For those reasons, this turtle has been outfitted with a tethered harness that allows her the freedom to swim and exercise her flippers in the 55,000-gallon medical pool while preventing her from harming her delicate skin by rubbing agains the walls of the pool. Special thanks goes to Eric Kolek at Sarasota's American Canvas who quickly constructed a harness for this extremely large turtle on Tuesday.

While Mote's goal is to release this turtle — we've nicknamed her Lizzy — as soon as possible, we're also seeking donations to help support Lizzy's medical care. "This turtle is larger than other animals — even most of the dolphin and whale species — that we usually treat at Mote," Stamper said. "That means we have to develop special things like the harness and use larger amounts of antibiotics to treat her. Unfortunately, that means medical costs are higher."

You Can Help:
To make a donation to help support Lizzy's care, please go to www.mote.org/hospitalhelp.

More about Lizzy:
Lizzy is an adult female nearly 5 feet long that weighs a whopping 787 pounds. She has a wound near where her left rear flipper attaches to her body and some abrasions on her right side and face. The animal does have a tag, so information about her previous nesting activity should be available soon. She is being treated with fluids and antibiotics.

About leatherback sea turtles:

• Leatherbacks don't have shells like loggerheads and other sea turtles. Instead, their carapace is bony and covered with a firm, rubbery skin. Leatherbacks are commonly found in deep ocean waters and are the most migratory and wide ranging of all the sea turtle species. They nest on beaches around the world, with the largest nesting populations found on the coasts of northern South America and west Africa. There are minor nesting populations in the U.S. Caribbean (primarily Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and in southeast Florida. Leatherbacks are rarely seen along Southwest Florida's Gulf coast - although a leatherback nest did hatch on Sanibel Island (Lee County) in August 2009.
• Experts estimate most leatherback nesting populations have declined by at least 80 percent. The largest declines for leatherbacks have occured in the Pacific, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Trends of leatherback populations in the Atlantic aren't as clear; some Caribbean nesting populations seem to be growing, but they remain much smaller than Pacific populations were less than a decade ago. Nesting on U.S. beaches has shown an upward trend in recent years.