Florida! - A Tale of Turtles and Fish

One day in the middle of our fabulous trip to Florida, we dropped off the men so they could go deep-sea fishing. Then, my mom, Little Dude and I headed over to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. It's a non-profit dedicated to protecting sea turtles.

I've always had a soft spot for sea turtles, but they really cemented a place in a my heart a few years ago when I had a close encountered with one of these endangered creatures. My wonderful mom-in-law took us to Hawaii and my niece and I were swimming in a lagoon when I saw a strange head pop up just a few feet behind her. My protective-aunt instinct made me swim over to her to make sure some weirdo wasn't following her. But when I got to her, no one was around. As we started snorkling to the jetty again, I saw something moving in the water... a turtle! It was big! And I quickly realized it was the turtle's head I saw. Wow!

Now back to the LMC... when you first walk in, they have an educational display where you can learn about sea turtles and why they need our protection. Outside, they have some fun things to do...

He loves a good photo op!

...and rescued turtles to look at. Their sea turtle hospital was full while we were there.

Top Left: Kahuna, adult Loggerhead Sea Turtle - She is a shark attack victim.
Top Right: Twister, adult Loggerhead Sea Turtle - He was found ill and covered in barnacles.
Bottom Left: Princess, juvenile Green Sea Turtle - She was found washed up on the beach ill and covered in barnacles.
Bottom Right: Ryker, adult Loggerhead Sea Turtle - He was also beached and covered in barnacles. He also had an old injury that looks like he caught a fishing hook in his mouth and had it yanked out. Ouch! He was scheduled to be released on 7/20/11!

Each turtle has a plaque with listing its name, injury, treatment plan and prognosis. Little Dude liked looking at the sign showing how they repair broken shells by cleaning the bacteria out of the injured section and then filling it with a graft - much like how Little Dude's leg was repaired last year!

Kahuna and Little Dude

One turtle had a really sad tale. A Green Sea Turtle named Andre was brutally injured after being struck by several motor boat propellers. He had been a patient at the turtle hospital for over a year because his injuries were so severe. While we were there, we watched as they attached an IV to the poor guy.

Andre

Andre is a lot luckier than other turtles. He's going to survive what would have been a fatal injury. His release date is set for August 3rd.

The turtle hospital also takes care of hatchlings that don't make it to the ocean. There are many reasons the hatchlings don't make it to the ocean - the odds are stacked against them. Only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings makes it to adulthood!

Next to the turtle hospital, there is an area for kids to have hands-on learning and for story and crafts time.

Little Dude checks out the trap door built for turtles to escape fishing nets.

Before long, it was time for us to go pick up the men from their deep-sea fishing adventure. (I hope they didn't snag any turtles with their hooks!) They came back victorious... well, at least one of them did. Hubby caught four fish! It was his first time fishing! He hooked a big "fake tuna," which wasn't worth anything so they tossed it back. Then he hooked one of those sucker fish that lives on sharks, which was also tossed back. Then finally, he caught two nice-sized yellow fins. And what did my dad bring home? The memories of spending a day with his son-in-law.

Top Left: Ready to be picked up.
Top Ready: "I caught one this big!" (The size of his first fish.)
Bottom Left: Successful fisherman.
Bottom Right: Catch of the day.

Actually, we all brought home pretty good memories of the day!