Kahuna the Rehabilitated Sea Turtle
Kahuna is a large sea turtle that experienced a shark attack rendering her defenseless in her normal habitat, the Atlantic Ocean. 60% of her left front flipper was lost with deep lacerations on her right flipper. She was rescued by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, FL. The Center is a pretty amazing rehabilitations center wequipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and medical professionals. Kahuna has been at the center in treatment since rescued and the Center partnered with the Equine Hyperbaric Center of South Florida at Reid and Associates in Loxahatchee, Florida to provide 18 hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments for Kahuna’s benefit. These were very successful and now Kahuna is healthy enough to reutrn to her home in the Atlantic Ocean. Release is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 7th on Juno Beach right across the road from the Center. A crowd is sure to be there cheering Kahuna and Loggerhead Marinelife Center as Kahuna is freed and disappears into the great blue waters!!...
Read MoreRehabilitated Sea Turtle Released into Ocean
I have enjoyed a fondness of sea turtles for years and each time I visit my daughter in Florida, we go to visit the Loggerhead Marinelife Center or the “turtle hospital” as we call it. It is a rather amazing not-for-profit organization that rescues injured and sick sea turtles and with their state-of-the-art medical techonolgies, they help to heal and strengthen sea turtles that were facing death. It’s a fun place for kids and adults alike to visit and learn about these ancient species. On a visit, one can see sea turtles in swimming tanks as they are being treated for their ailments…or, one might see hatchlings that did not make it out to sea after being born for one reason or another. Now, those are really a precious sight to behold!! While on my extended stay in Florida this summer, on June 29, 2012, my grandchildren and I were able to observe Tilly, who the center had nurtured back to good health, be released on Juno Beach and to see her instinctively and immediately make her journey back to her home, the Atlantic Ocean. There must have been 200-250 people gathered to witness this great escape back into the wild and all cheered as she disappeared into the blue-green waves of the South Florida sea. So, after Tilly made her way into and under the ocean, the ropes were removed and my grandchildren returned to the waves for play. This time, I liked the thought of them swimming with Tilly in the nearby waves…now what kid wouldn’t want to do that! Jared thought he might have seen her when a big wave came and he saw something brown…or maybe it was seaweed…who knows. But, one thing for certain is this…they all, including Tilly, were swimming in a wonderfully, majestically created expanse of the beautiful ocean created so, so many thousands of years ago. That thought just puts a big, big smile on my face! Visit www.marinelife.org ...
Read MoreRescued Sea Turtle
This Loggerhead sea turtle was rescued and being rehabilitated at the Loggerhead Marine Life Center at Juno Beach, FL. Sea turtles are rescued and treated for a variety of issues. Some are sick with a particular infection while others are injured by passing boats or swallow hooks and trash in the ocean. With the publicity and education outreach of ocean and sea life conservationists, many fishermen will come upon an injured sea turtle and bring them in to the center/hospital for rehabilitation. This center and their staff have diagnostic and surgical training, equipment and supplies needed to save lives. The center cares for sea turtles from hatchlings to old, old, old turtles needing assistance. Check out http://www.marinelife.org/ to learn more about their work and how you can help support their...
Read MoreLoggerhead Marine Life Center of Juno Beach, FL
One of my passions is conservation of our oceans and sea life. I am especially interested in the amazing sea turtles and the challenges they face today in our oceans. Our family visits in Jupiter, FL usually entail a visit to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center of Juno Beach. It’s a very professionally run sea turtle hospital, rehabilitation and education center. It’s never too early for children to start learning about our responsibilities in helping to protect healthy ocean life. Sea turtles have been around since the beginning of time and today are beautiful yet challenged. Florida, of course, is one of the states in the U.S. that has federally protected beach areas for sea turtle nesting and hatching. Sea turtles swim thousands of miles and return to the beach of their own birth to lay their eggs. Hatchlings face many obstacles to survival and places like the Juno Center take the ones that don’t make it all the way out to sea and allow them to grow and get stronger and then release them into the ocean. Stayed tuned for more...
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National Audubon Society
Help support the efforts of our National Audubon Society in conservation of natural bird habitats. Visit: www.birds.audubon.org