Turtle Surgery

One of the advantages of marrying a man with children is that I get to be a step-mom, and go visit them from time to time. This time, we were in Clearwater, Florida, and took a day to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. This is the aquarium famously represented in the movie, A Dolphin’s Tale, and we did see Winter, the dolphin who was rescued and given a prosthetic tail to replace the one she lost in a boat strike. Boat strikes are an extreme hazard to marine animals, and the situation is getting dire for many of them.

What I loved about the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is that it’s based on the idea of treating the animals and releasing them back into the wild. Only those animals that can no longer survive on their own (like Winter) are kept at the aquarium. The drawing above is of a turtle surgery we witnessed during our visit. There is a virus going around and Clearwater is the only aquarium equipped to help the sick turtles that come in. This one is about to have a growth removed from his shell. I loved how the attendant stroked the turtle’s little fin to calm him down, and how diligently the turtle grasped on to the breathing tube with his beak. So sweet, wow. I love to see people helping vulnerable little creatures like this.

Of course the Aquarium relies on the public for funding, so please consider helping out if you can.

Posted by Veronica