((PKG)) TURTLE HOSPITAL
((Banner: Our Flippered Friends))
((Reporter/Camera/Producer: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Marathon, Florida))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Sea turtles are the oldest animal known to man. They have been
on our planet for over a hundred-million years. They are an
indicator species, a good example of what’s happening to our
marine ecosystems.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Every species of sea turtles in the United States Is listed as either
endangered or threatened. And we want to make sure that this
species does not go extinct on our watch.
((NATS:
Okay, you are so beautiful. Look at you, goodness.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
The Turtle Hospital is located in the heart of the Florida Keys. It
has been rescuing, rehabilitating and returning turtles to the wild
for over 30 years. Not only do we fix sick and injured sea turtles,
but probably the much bigger take in that is our education and just
the value of that education. We reach out with social media and
other types of media on a global level. Visitors also play a very
important role. That admission fee, that is where we get our
budget for our turtle care.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Kiki, a juvenile green sea turtle, had surgery with Dr. Terry Norton
today. He is from Jekyll Island Authority, Georgia Sea Turtle
Hospital. He is the director there, but he is also our lead
veterinarian. So, we actually fly him in to do sea turtle surgeries.
Fibropapillomatosis is a virus that causes these horrific tumors.
This afflicts over 50 percent of the green sea turtle population in
and around the Florida Keys. This disease is only found around
developed land. There is a scientific study that was published out
of the University of Hawaii in 2014 that correlated the runoff from
pineapple plantations to the increase of this disease in green sea
turtles. The sea turtle goes under general anesthesia. The
tumors are removed with a CO2 laser.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Kiki’s recovery will probably be a few months. Once a sea turtle
is tumor free, we keep them at the Turtle Hospital for 6 to 12
months just to make sure they don’t regrow those tumors. We
want to make sure they are good and healthy. Get their blood
values built back up before we return them to their ocean home.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
We rescue an average of a hundred sea turtles a year.
Unfortunately, most of them are human impact injuries. Not only
do we see boat strikes but we see a lot of fishing gear
entanglement, trap lines, abandoned anchor lines. You can really
see the impact we, as humans, are having on our oceans. Chuck
is a sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle. He lost that front right flipper
due to a fishing line entanglement. Amputating a flipper on a sea
turtle, it’s a major surgery. It requires a lot of follow-up care,
extensive wound care.
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
I think some of the treatments that alleviate pain or pressure, they
do calm down for during treatment but for the most part, as they
get healthier, they get stronger and they fight more, which is
actually really a good sign for a wild animal.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Chuck is on the mend and a candidate for release. Believe it or
not, a sea turtle with three healthy flippers is a candidate to be
returned to the wild. So, we have our flippers crossed for Chuck.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Six out of ten of our rescue calls now come from people that have
been to our hospital and learned what a sick sea turtle looks like.
It’s one thing to tell somebody not to leave your fishing gear out
there but it’s another thing to see this big majestic dinosaur, a sea
turtle, lose their front flipper to that entanglement and that’s really
impactful. So, I feel like that education is invaluable.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Banner: Our Flippered Friends))
((Reporter/Camera/Producer: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Marathon, Florida))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Sea turtles are the oldest animal known to man. They have been
on our planet for over a hundred-million years. They are an
indicator species, a good example of what’s happening to our
marine ecosystems.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Every species of sea turtles in the United States Is listed as either
endangered or threatened. And we want to make sure that this
species does not go extinct on our watch.
((NATS:
Okay, you are so beautiful. Look at you, goodness.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
The Turtle Hospital is located in the heart of the Florida Keys. It
has been rescuing, rehabilitating and returning turtles to the wild
for over 30 years. Not only do we fix sick and injured sea turtles,
but probably the much bigger take in that is our education and just
the value of that education. We reach out with social media and
other types of media on a global level. Visitors also play a very
important role. That admission fee, that is where we get our
budget for our turtle care.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Kiki, a juvenile green sea turtle, had surgery with Dr. Terry Norton
today. He is from Jekyll Island Authority, Georgia Sea Turtle
Hospital. He is the director there, but he is also our lead
veterinarian. So, we actually fly him in to do sea turtle surgeries.
Fibropapillomatosis is a virus that causes these horrific tumors.
This afflicts over 50 percent of the green sea turtle population in
and around the Florida Keys. This disease is only found around
developed land. There is a scientific study that was published out
of the University of Hawaii in 2014 that correlated the runoff from
pineapple plantations to the increase of this disease in green sea
turtles. The sea turtle goes under general anesthesia. The
tumors are removed with a CO2 laser.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Kiki’s recovery will probably be a few months. Once a sea turtle
is tumor free, we keep them at the Turtle Hospital for 6 to 12
months just to make sure they don’t regrow those tumors. We
want to make sure they are good and healthy. Get their blood
values built back up before we return them to their ocean home.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
We rescue an average of a hundred sea turtles a year.
Unfortunately, most of them are human impact injuries. Not only
do we see boat strikes but we see a lot of fishing gear
entanglement, trap lines, abandoned anchor lines. You can really
see the impact we, as humans, are having on our oceans. Chuck
is a sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle. He lost that front right flipper
due to a fishing line entanglement. Amputating a flipper on a sea
turtle, it’s a major surgery. It requires a lot of follow-up care,
extensive wound care.
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
I think some of the treatments that alleviate pain or pressure, they
do calm down for during treatment but for the most part, as they
get healthier, they get stronger and they fight more, which is
actually really a good sign for a wild animal.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Chuck is on the mend and a candidate for release. Believe it or
not, a sea turtle with three healthy flippers is a candidate to be
returned to the wild. So, we have our flippers crossed for Chuck.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Bette Zirkelbach, Manager, The Turtle Hospital))
Six out of ten of our rescue calls now come from people that have
been to our hospital and learned what a sick sea turtle looks like.
It’s one thing to tell somebody not to leave your fishing gear out
there but it’s another thing to see this big majestic dinosaur, a sea
turtle, lose their front flipper to that entanglement and that’s really
impactful. So, I feel like that education is invaluable.
((NATS/MUSIC))
