Rehabbed turtles released into Gulf

Two sea turtles made their way into the Gulf and back to their normal lives after rehabbing on City Island.

Little Buoy, a loggerhead, was found off Siesta Key with her tail floating up in the water and her head submerged, leading to her nickname coined by a Sarasota Marine Patrol officer who helped rescue her, said Mote Marine Stranding Biologist Helen Watrous. Little Buoy was taken to Mote Marine Laboratory’s City Island research campus and treated for lethargic loggerhead syndrome.

“With lethargic loggerheads, it’s caused by a blood parasite, so we treat them with an anti-parasitic and then it’s tincture of time. We keep them in low water, give them two rounds of an anti-parasitic and oral antibiotics for an infection, which is very common to see as well,” Mote Marine Rehabilitation and Medical Care Manager Lynne Byrd said. “It was tincture of time, low water and good food over three months.”

Image courtesy of Cyndi Seamon

On Thursday, Little Buoy and Spud, a green sea turtle, were wheeled down to the shores of the Gulf on a wagon individually, lowered onto the beach and unwrapped from their covering. Little Buoy wasted no time, motoring right into the water.

Janelle Branower and John Wagman, volunteers with Longboat Key Turtle Watch, rode their bikes to the beach to see the turtles get released.

“It was like taking a child to the playground. It knew exactly where it was. It was like ‘I’m going on the big swing,’” Wagman said. “That thing just took off. It’s great to see them go back out into the Gulf rather than spend the rest of their life in captivity because they’re injured too far and can’t be rehabbed.”

Spud was a bit more hesitant, but also made her way into the water without incident after taking in her surroundings.

Found by the dredging company working on New Pass, Spud showed signs of being stunned from the cold weather. Temperatures dropped to as low as 46 degrees on Sunday, Feb. 8, with wind gusts of 20 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

“That animal was found on a Sunday by the dredge company, and they reported a floating animal unable to dive, so they grabbed her and brought her in. It was starting to get cold then, so we believe she’s one of our first cold stunned sea turtles (of the year). Her temperature was 60 degrees upon admittance,” Byrd said. “What happens when reptiles get stunned by the cold, everything shuts down. She wasn’t swimming, she wasn’t diving, she wasn’t reactive. She was floating, so then she’s in harm’s way. We’re glad she got brought in.”