Help Buy New Turtle Tanks for Sick Bay!

UPDATE: Thank you for your generous donations! We met our goal, and are proceeding with the project. Stay tuned for updates.

Meet Phact, a juvenile Kemp's ridley turtle that stranded due to cold stunning. We don't know what happened to cause Phact's injuries, and she can't tell us. What we can do, with your help, is provide the best possible care to this beautiful young turtle so she can recover and one day be released back to the wild.

When Phact and 19 other cold stunned turtles arrived, we examined them, took weights and photographs, and gave them a swim test. Despite the injury to her face, Phact passed with flying colors! We housed Phact in a rectangular tub half full of water for the night.

Currently, that tub is our only option for Phact and other small turtles since we don't have enough pools on permanent filtration to accommodate the number of turtles in need. Rest assured that we clean these tubs at least three times a day, and also offer regular therapy swims in larger pools. Then, when space opens up in our Turtle Bay, we move the turtles to larger and deeper water on the main filtration system.

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Now, we are planning to install new tanks with permanent filtration in our Sea Turtle Sick Bay. These 18-foot long, 3-foot deep rectangular tanks can be subdivided to accommodate more turtles during busy seasons. Then, dividers can be removed to offer more space for larger turtles and when it's less busy. Each tank will have it's individual filtration system to keep the water clean and flowing. These new tanks and filters will greatly increase pool options for our recovering sea turtle patients.

Thanks to a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and matching donations from the DSCW Kennedy Foundation and Sunset Beach Sea Turtle Watch, we have raised 89% of project costs. Now, we need you - Phact and future cold stunned turtles need you - to help raise the remaining 11%. That's just $12,521!

This #GivingTuesday, please consider a donation to allow us to complete the project. Your gift of $25, $50, or $100 will allow us to improve Sea Turtle Sick Bay by adding permanent tanks and filtration systems. On behalf of the turtles, thank you.

UPDATE: We met our goal THANK YOU to everyone who donated!

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