Loggerhead Marinelife Center Will Release Sea Turtle Patients, Turbo and Hermé, Back into the Ocean.
Juno Beach, FL – On Thursday, March 12th from 10:00 to 10:35 a.m., Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s (LMC) will release sea turtle patients, Hermé and Turbo, back into the ocean. Both Turbo and Hermé are cleared to return home to the ocean this week after successful treatments. Both sea turtles have a special connection to the South Florida community.
Herme is named in honor of Hermé de Wyman Miro, who founded The International Society of Palm Beach to enrich the arts, foster education and medical research, protect animals and more. A friend of the Center and local community, Hermé has generously given back to the Palm Beaches for over 40 years. Upon arrival from Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL) St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, the turtle’s bloodwork indicated anemia, hypoglycemia and malnourishment due to chronic debilitation. The subadult loggerhead sea turtle was treated with fluids and antibiotics during its three and a half month stay at the Center.
Turbo is a juvenile loggerhead patient who was generously adopted by FPL, LMC’s longtime partner. Turbo is named in honor of last year’s Annual Go Blue Awards Luncheon presenting sponsor Manatee Lagoon – An FPL Eco-Discovery Center®. The sea turtle was unintentionally hooked at the Juno Beach Pier and brought in by a responsible angler. The LMC rehabilitation team proactively removed the hook and revealed the sea turtle was underweight and experiencing intestinal impaction with a large number of crab shells. Turbo received fluids and antibiotics to regain his health over a near three-month stay.
For the past few months, our rehabilitation staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly to improve the health of both of these sea turtles. Both of these sea turtles were in LMC’s care for nearly three and a half months, which is a little shorter than the Center’s average; on average, a sea turtle patient takes four to six months to recover. Additionally, LMC releases an average of 100 patients each year. However, each sea turtle patient is assessed and prescribed with a unique treatment plan for its specific injuries and ailments. To learn more about our rehab efforts and patients, please visit: www.marinelife.org/patients.
Sea Turtle Release Event Details
WHO: A subadult loggerhead sea turtle patient, Hermé, and a juvenile loggerhead, Turbo
WHAT: A double release of both sea turtle patients
WHEN: Thursday, March 12 at 10:30 AM; pre-release procedures occur at 10 AM
WHERE: LMC; 14200 US Highway One, Juno Beach, FL
The Center encourages supporters who cannot attend the release in-person to join through Facebook LIVE! After the event concludes, videos and photos will be posted to the Center’s social media sites: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Sea Turtle Release Safety Tips
*LMC advises guests to protect themselves adequately against the South Florida sun and weather.
- Wear a hat
- Wear weather appropriate clothing
- Wear sunscreen
- Bring a reusable water bottle
- Bring sunglasses
Sea Turtle Release FAQs
- Why does LMC release sea turtle patients during the week instead of on the weekends? Our Center is not permitted to release sea turtles on Fridays or the weekends due to increased guest and boat activity. Releasing the patients during the week ensures the turtles’ safe return to the ocean. Thus, LMC typically releases sea turtles on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- When are releases scheduled? As soon as a patient is deemed healthy, our rehabilitation staff must notify FWC about the sea turtles’ health status. At this point, FWC will provide LMC with an approved date to release the turtle, which falls within the next few days. As soon as LMC is provided with the release date, LMC notifies supporters through its digital channels. Thus, the Center cannot provide the public with more than a weeks notice of the release and encourages supporters to monitor LMC’s social media pages.
- Why are only certain releases public? LMC welcomes the public to attend the releases of all loggerhead patients. Depending on the species of turtle, the patient may be released in a different location other than the Center based upon its preferred habitat. For example, green sea turtles are often released north of the Center, while hawksbills are released south of the Center. Since our local beach is highly densely nested loggerhead sea turtle beach, it’s natural to release these turtles from the beach located adjacent to our Center.
- What is the VIP tent at releases for? Our VIP tent at our releases is reserved for key stakeholders (donors and corporate partners) who make significant contributions to the Center.
- How do I adopt a sea turtle patient? Our Center chooses a handful of patients to be selected for our symbolic adoption program. When you adopt a patient, your adoption provides critical funds to provide premium care to our sea turtle patients. Supporters are welcome to adopt our patients at our Center or online.
- How do I learn and track the progress of a patient? When our patients arrive to our Center, they are provided with a unique patient page. You can follow a sea turtle patients’ progress from rescue to release through the turtle’s specific patient page. Each week, our Center updates the patient page with prognosis notes from our rehabilitation staff.
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Loggerhead Marinelife Center:
Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is a nonprofit sea turtle research, rehabilitation and educational institution that promotes conservation of ocean ecosystems with a focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. The Center features an on-site hospital, research laboratory, educational exhibits and aquariums, and also operates the Juno Beach Pier, which hosts world-class angling and sightseeing. Situated on one of the world’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches, Loggerhead Marinelife Center is open daily and hosts over 350,000 guests free-of-charge each year. The Center’s conservation team works with 90 local and international organizations across six continents to form partnerships and share conservation initiatives and best practices that are core to its mission of ocean conservation. The Center is expanding and has launched its Waves of Progress capital expansion campaign, designed to accelerate and amplify LMC’s conservation and education impact. When complete, the facility will offer one of the world’s most advanced and unique experiences for guests and scientific partners. For more information, visit www.marinelife.org or call (561) 627-8280.
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Media Contact:
Lauren Eissey, Public Relations and Engagement Specialist
561-627-8280, x124