Jim Abernethy’s Scuba Adventures is a big supporter of local marine life research. Especially with sea turtle research. JASA loves it when we get to help with little baby turtles and even the big sea turtles.
One day I was working the boat and I got to meet Larry Wood. Larry is a local scientist that works with Hawksbill turtles in the areas of West Palm Beach (WPB). Larry hand captures and brings the turtles to the surface. I was onboard to receive the turtle and Larry and his assistant got onboard and did a turtle work-up. In the work up they take measurements, blood samples, and place tags. After the work up the turtle will be release back into the area it came from. Larry is authorized to do this through permits from NMFS, so please do not attempt, pursue, or harass turtles while you are diving. Larry’s research is very important for us to understand what the population of Hawksbills in WPB are up too. Hawksbills have almost been wiped out primarily because of humans wanting their beautiful shells. Its awful to think that people are not educated enough to understand that our oceans can not afford this type of loss. Sea Turtles are very important to WPB marine ecosystems, they are responsible for eating algae of corals which helps the corals out. Every animal has a role on this planet, who are we to mess with that? To check out Larry Wood’s research go to www.floridahawksbills.com
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The other day I went to visit the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. This is a center that is deciated to rescue and rehab sea turtles. Janine my co-worker and I got a tour of the center from Melissa Ranly. She is the center’s Hospital Coordinator and is responsible for making the sick and injuried turtles feel better and get the best care on their road to recovery. At the center we encountered many different patients…one was a Kemp’s Ridley turtle. This species is very rare in WPB waters, and this particular turtle was rescued because it had fishing line wrapped around its front flipper. This restricted the blood flow and this little guy almost lost his flipper but because he was rescued their is a chance he’ll get released back into the ocean!
Another turtle that tugged at my heart strings was a green sea turtle named Andre. Andre was found washed ashore after substaining two separate boat propeller injuries. This poor turtle had such a deep cut that it extended into his body cavity which created a lung infection. His wound was closed up and a Vacuum Assisted Closure Unit was installed to promote healing. So Andre is hooked up to a funny looking device but at least its helping him get better.
What a great facility and we got the gift shop to help us sell Jim’s Shark Book!
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by Nikole
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