Pip’s life began when a female sea turtle dug a nest and laid her eggs on Juno Beach, FL. Pip’s mother was a dedicated sea turtle who laid her nest high up on the beach to prevent erosion from the rough seas. She returned to the ocean after carefully placing her eggs in the nest and covered them up with sand. The eggs incubated in the nest for 53 days before they hatched. Many of Pip’s siblings made it to the ocean, and eventually to the floating sargassum beds several miles offshore, where they would spend many years before venturing out on their own. But unfortunately, Pip was disoriented on the beach due to lights shining from a nearby building.
Sea turtles crawl in the direction of the brightest light and can become disoriented when there are lights on or near the beach. Pip thought the ocean was west of where he emerged but was wrong and wound up in the dune vegetation. Pip became exhausted from crawling around on the beach and decided to take a break from his attempts to find the ocean. Later in the morning, a kind beach walker found Pip near the dunes and carefully placed him in a container with damp sand to bring the hatchling to the Sea Turtle Hospital at Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC)!
Pip was quickly celebrated and snapped in many photos when visitors stopped by. Upon arrival, Pip received fluids from the Veterinary Hospital and LMC’s rehabilitation team. The little hatchlings swimming abilities were tested and the hospital staff decided Pip was quite a strong swimmer, regardless of the challenging start at life! This little sea turtle received two to three meals per day of minced fish during his several weeks of stay at the Outdoor Sea Turtle Hospital.
After some time, it was decided that all of the Center’s hatchlings were strong and ready to go back to the ocean. Pip suddenly felt very sad at the thought of being wouldn’t be able to share the turtles knowledge of ocean conservation with the human hatchlings of the world! Pip decided to stay behind and educate LMC visitors to help save all of the other sea turtles in the ocean. One day, Pip will return home, but in the meantime keep an eye out for this friendly sea turtle at Loggerhead Marinelife Center!
Want to meet Pip? We would love to introduce you!
How you can meet Pip…
- Pip can come to your party! To book Pip’s appearance, you can contact us at [email protected]
- Book a turtley awesome party at Loggerhead Marinelife Center and Pip can join you.
- Visit Loggerhead Marinelife Center during our next sea turtle release.