Clover and Gracie

Another cold, rainy Saturday at the office inspired me to go check on our two live strandings from this year -- meet the girls...

Clover is a green sea turtle with dislocated hips and a broken pelvis. When Mark and his sons rescued her, she was tiny and dark green.



Jennifer, Monica and I took her to the Gulfarium for rehab that very day. In the seven or eight months she's been in Destin, she's doubled in size, and lightened a lot in color. They're not sure what's causing that -- they are modifying her diet to see if they can change it. They may try to correct her badly healed hip/pelvis injury at Mote Marine Lab, but haven't yet. That will determine whether or not she is 'permanently disabled' and unreleasable.



Gracie, a large female Kemp's ridley, lost a flipper and had some severe cuts from fishing line entanglement. She was covered in barnacles, algae, worms and other marine organisms.



Grace Periera and her family brought the turtle to the Coast Guard Station in Pensacola on New Years Eve, where Jennifer and I picked her up for evaluation and care. Gracie is now doing very well -- she's swimming eight hours a day in a heated pool, diving and resting a lot. The staff at the Gulfarium removed her barnacle load (it can slow down a turtle!) so her carapace is clean and clear. So far, she's refusing to eat and is about ten pounds underweight for a Kemp's of her size. We're hoping she'll be released and continue nesting for many more years.



The people at the Gulfarium are wonderful! They always willingly take on any injured sea turtle or dolphin we rescue from the park or Pensacola Beach. What a fantastic resource! This lovely loggerhead is another animal they're caring for after a boat strike damaged her carapace. As a permanently disabled turtle, she'll be a permanent resident at the Gulfarium. They deserve all of our support for the great work they do!