“Sea turtles will look you in the eye. If you get a little twinge when they do, it’s because they’re looking into your soul, and you’re looking into theirs.”
~ Jean Beasley, Founder
Rescue
Rehabilitation
Release
Sea Turtle Stories
Lennie
SPECIES: Lepidochelys kempiiTHE STRANDING: Found in a pound net, thin, not eating. Rescued by fisherman and long time turtle friend, Lennie. Lennie (the human) is soon to retire and he will be missed. Lennie was admitted with blunt force trauma to the head, an easy diagnosis considering the obvious damage to his skull and eyes. She was also thin and lethargic, but unlike the emaciated “barnacle Bill” turtles we get, we knew Lennie’s condition was directly related to the head injury and the resulting poor vision. She was literally “dazed and confused.” We surmised that, for all intents and purposes, he was blind in his right eye. It was sunken and atrophied. But we were operating on the hope that his left eye, despite being damaged and covered partially with a film remained somewhat functional.
Snookie
SPECIES: Caretta carettaTHE STRANDING: Snookie’s stranding was a bit of a mystery. She certainly wasn’t one of our “Barnacle Bill” turtles that come in emaciated and covered with all sorts of sea life. She was obviously pretty smart and very lucky as she had minimal injuries and just a few scars from all of those years living in the wild. She was eating well, and even arrived with a cooler full of her favorite food – conch. But something was just not right with her. And so began our year-long ongoing quest to figure it out.