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Two Turtle Tales to End Happily with Release on Lido
Two loggerhead sea turtles stranded in Englewood and Osprey and rehabilitated at Mote Marine Laboratory will return to sea tomorrow morning from Lido Beach — a happy ending to two tales of rescue teamwork.

The turtles, nicknamed “Faith” and “Felicity,” will be released at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Dec. 16, near the northernmost lifeguard tower on Lido Beach by Mote caregivers and some of the people involved in the rescues.

Both turtles were brought to Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital malnourished and sluggish, suffering from lethargic loggerhead syndrome — an illness of uncertain origin that can immobilize loggerhead sea turtles, a threatened species protected by federal law.

About the turtles:

Faith
Faith, a subadult loggerhead whose upper shell is 30 inches long, was rescued on July 15 in Englewood’s Charlotte County side by a family on summer vacation.

Members of the Rogers family spotted the turtle bobbing near a bridge to Manasota Key and saw it enter a canal near their rental property. “The turtle was really lethargic and she lay there on top of the water with one flipper toward the sky — we were afraid she’d go down and she wouldn’t come back up,” said Tammy Rogers, a Plant City-based interior designer with Celebrating Home.

Rogers called Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program, which responds to sick and injured sea turtles, dolphins and whales within Sarasota and Manatee county waters. Mote staff contacted the Coastal Wildlife Club (CWC), which responds to sea turtles in the Englewood area, to guide the family’s rescue effort. Rogers and her family lifted the turtle onto the family’s docked boat and then into their truck.

Rogers, her husband Chuck, their high school-age children Zack and Karly and a CWC staff member drove more than an hour to bring the turtle to Mote. Her daughter Karly named the turtle “Faith.”

Said Rogers: “As long as it wouldn’t cause any harm to the turtle or us, we’d do whatever we could to get her to Mote’s hospital for care.”

Mote staff built up Faith’s strength and slowly increased the water level in the turtle’s pool until it could dive and rest on the bottom.

Felicity
Felicity, a subadult loggerhead with a 30-inch upper shell, was named after the 2-year-old daughter of Nicholas Ridgway, a law enforcement officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) who worked with Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program to rescue the turtle.

Ridgway found the turtle floating, listing to one side and unable to dive normally on Aug. 29 in waters near Blackburn Point Bridge in Osprey. Ridgeway contacted FWC’s dispatch, which in turn called the Stranding Investigations  24-hour pager. The team lifted the turtle aboard the FWC boat and brought it to shore, then Mote staff drove it to the turtle hospital

Mote staff gave Felicity fluids and food along with medication for an infection.  

Ridgway will be present for Felicity’s release along with his wife and daughter, the turtle’s namesake. “We can’t wait for Felicity to meet Felicity,” he said.

"We're grateful for the excellent teamwork that brought Felicity and Faith to Mote," said Lynne Byrd, Mote’s rehabilitation and medical care coordinator. "Thanks to caring people like the Rogers family and wildlife rescuers in our region, we're able to treat marine life in need."

Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital has treated more than 283 sick and injured sea turtles since 1995. Learn more and support these efforts with a donation at www.mote.org/seaturtlehospital.

Within Sarasota or Manatee county waters, if you see a stranded or dead dolphin, whale or sea turtle, please call Mote's Stranding Investigations Program, a 24-hour response service, at 941-988-0212.

If you see a stranded or dead manatee anywhere in state waters or a stranded or dead dolphin, whale or sea turtle outside of Sarasota or Manatee counties please call the FWC Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).