Adopt A Sea Turtle
You can support Loggerhead Marinelife Center by “adopting” a sea turtle patient starting at just $35. Your adoption directly benefits the continued care and treatment of our sick and injured sea turtles or further study of the green, leatherback, and loggerhead sea turtles that nest on 9.5 miles of shore in Juno Beach, Jupiter and Tequesta.
Rehabilitation
For over three decades, LMC has been committed to the rehabilitation of sick and injured sea turtles. LMC’s advanced hospital, founded by The Gordon & Patricia Gray Family, is one of the leading facilities in the state and a prime resource for sea turtle rehabilitation. It features a surgical suite, upgraded x-ray room, blood work lab, endoscope, and ultrasound – allowing numerous sea turtles to be examined and treated at LMC.
Our treatment protocol is from rescue to release – which means that sea turtle patients are released as soon as they are medically cleared. If a patient is deemed non-releasable, it will be transferred to a different facility. All of the sea turtle patients on campus are actively receiving treatment with the ultimate goal to allow each rehabilitated sea turtle back into the ocean as quickly as possible.
Innovative Therapies
Advanced medical equipment is critical to saving lives. At LMC, those lives are sea turtle patients. Due to generous support from donors, the Gordon & Patricia Gray Hospital is now home to two additional world class machines, which transform patient outcomes and allow our ocean-side campus to serve as a global teaching hub.LMC’s high-definition ultrasound machine enables hospital staff to clearly examine the intricate anatomy of sea turtle patients. This provides staff with a different perspective on ailments, allowing them to formulate targeted treatment plans.
The second device, the Karl Storz EndoSkope, is the most advanced of its kind. Many of our sea turtle patients have complex internal medical challenges; such as plastic and fishing hook ingestion. The endoscope’s high-definition digital monitor allows LMC’s veterinarian to better examine delicate organs. Should patients need an endoscopic procedure, the team at LMC now has one of the most advanced tools available.
Gordon and Patricia Gray Veterinary Hospital
The Gordon and Patricia Gray Veterinary Hospital is a state-of-the-art hospital devoted to the care of sea turtles. LMC provides all the same veterinary diagnostic, medical treatment, and surgical services that you would find in the best veterinary hospitals. The hospital consists of a treatment room, a veterinary pharmacy, digital x-ray room, a surgical suite, and a necropsy room.
The treatment room is viewable through the hospital observation windows. Many of LMC’s patient’s daily treatments will occur in this area. Within the treatment room we have a pharmacy which includes refrigeration and a secure storage unit that provides immediate access to all medications which may require for our patients.
The digital x-ray room is one of the first rooms sea turtle patients see. X-rays are part of the initial assessment of the sea turtles when they arrive. The x-rays help to identify any internal problems they may face such as fish hooks or pneumonia.
The surgical suite is where all sea turtle surgeries take place; in addition to any other procedure which may require sterilization. The surgery suite is equipped with a stainless-steel surgery table, an anesthesia machine, along with standard surgical instruments. On occasion, some surgeries are open to public viewing through the observation windows.
The necropsy room is located outside across from the turtle yard. A necropsy provides gross and microscopic pathological examination of mortalities. Necropsies are at times open for public viewing.
Research
