BOCA RATON — Humans weren’t the only ones who evacuated because of the recent Florida hurricanes.
After Hurricane Helene battered Florida’s Gulf Coast in late September, all of the sea turtles — seven, to be exact — were moved from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to The Coastal Stewards facility in Boca Raton. Because of the hurricane, the facility received about 20 hatchlings, too.
“There’s not really many facilities that take sea turtles,” said Dr. Shelby Loos, director of marine life conservation at the Boca Raton facility. “So it’s really important we all work together and take turtles, when needed, the best we can.”
In South Florida, there are just four locations that can do so, Loos said. They are Zoo Miami, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach and a hospital in Marathon, a city in the Florida Keys.
As Hurricane Milton headed toward Florida’s west coast on Wednesday, Loos prepared the facility as one normally would — removing any outdoor objects that could be blown away by the wind, arranging cameras to monitor the facility during the storm and monitoring the storm’s path closely.
“Each storm is kind of individual on exactly what you do with the turtles,” Loos said.
Because Hurricane Milton was not heading directly toward the West Palm Beach area, the turtles at The Coastal Stewards facility in Boca Raton remained in their tanks, Loos said.
“If the storm were more of a direct hit, if it were worse, we would bring those animals in,” she said. Another option, in the case of a severe storm, is to coordinate with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to transfer them elsewhere.
What kind of care do sea turtles receive from The Coastal Stewards?
There is a variety of reasons why sea turtles end up in rehabilitation in the first place. The majority of turtles — and all but one at The Coastal Stewards facility in Boca Raton — have fibropapilloma virus, a disease that causes cauliflower-like tumors to form on sea turtles. Others at the facility suffer from injuries caused by entanglements and boat strikes.
Currently, there are a few turtles at the center that are just on antibiotics, Loos said.
“We’re trying to get them strong enough for surgery, because we’ll have to remove those tumors,” she said. Depending on how they progress, a location for surgery is then determined — if not in Boca Raton, then when they return, if they return, to Clearwater.
Wound care including removing dead or unhealthy tissue is conducted on the turtles with fishing line entanglements in their flippers and injuries to other body parts, such as their heads. Feeding and monitoring the turtles is on the list, too.
“We essentially took over where Clearwater left off, continuing their treatment plans,” Loos said. “When they’re ready, we’ll make the determination of who’s going back to them versus staying.”
How many sea turtles can The Coastal Stewards care for at once?
The number can vary. The Coastal Stewards facility in Boca Raton has 12 pools. However, two of those typically are only used for hatchlings, Loos said.
Sometimes, dividers are placed in the pools so they can house more than one turtle, but that depends on the size of the turtle and the kind of care it needs. So there is no exact limit on the number of turtles the facility can house at any given time. Before the Clearwater turtles and hatchlings arrived, there was one green sea turtle in rehab and several hatchlings at the facility, Loos said.
Sea turtle rehabilitation: What happens during a hurricane?
It’s not up to facilities that house these sea turtles to decide where they will go in the case of a severe storm. It’s up to the FWC.
“For us, we got Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s turtles,” Loos said. “But they wanted to make sure that we still had space, so that we could take in local stranding turtles that still need help.”
As soon as the Clearwater was aware of damage and flooding to life support systems caused by Hurricane Helene, they contacted the FWC, Loos said, who then reached out to The Coastal Stewards to check on availability. The day after the storm, as soon as the bridge was open to reach Clearwater, The Coastal Stewards picked up the turtles.
“It ultimately is FWC’s decision,” Loos said.
Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Raton Coastal Stewards cared for sea turtles during hurricanes
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
