Sea Turtle Hooked for the Fourth Time

On May 17^th 2007, a "turtle had been hooked near the eye" according to Mote Marine's website. According to the website, the turtle hooked was a Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Mote Marine's website said the "turtle was hooked off a fishing pier" off Fort Myers Beach, Florida. According to Eve Haverfield, director of Turtle Time, Inc., the turtle "took four people to lift her onto the truck". According to its website, Turtle Time, Inc. "is the Florida state-permitted monitoring organization for sea turtle activity from Fort Myers Beach." Mrs. Haverfield said they were called to the pier when the turtle was hooked.

Mote Marine's website states that the sea turtle was "transported to CROW facility on Sanibel Island overnight, then transported to Mote." CROW (Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) "is a non-profit veterinary hospital" that is "one of the nation's leading wildlife rehabilitation hospitals for tropical native and migratory wildlife", according to their website.

At Mote Marine, "radiographs revealed four more hooks in the turtle's throat and stomach" with "another hook in its right front flipper." The hook near the eye faired well, as "the eye itself does not appear to be damaged" states Mote.

On May 21^st surgery was scheduled to remove the hooks. "We were able to remove two hooks from the esophagus via gastroscopy and two more hooks were removed from the skin," says Mote's website. "There remains at least one more (hook) buried in the neck and we may have to do an exploratory surgery to locate and remove it." Mote states that the turtle (they call her Eve) "is on antibiotics to control infections from the penetrations."

According to Turtle Time's website and its species page, loggerhead turtles are the "most prolific sea turtle species that nest on Fort Myers Beach. Their nesting season begins on May 1^st and last through the end of October. A full-grown female loggerhead can be 38 inches in length and between 250 to 400 pounds in weight. She will crawl up the beach at night to lay her eggs. The eggs will gestate for a period between 55 to 65 days. Once hatched, the baby sea turtles will make their way to Gulf of Mexico. Typically only one out of every one thousand sea turtles reaches maturity."

Sources:

Eve Haverfield, "Director Turtle Time, Inc." http://www.turtletime.org/

Mote Marine, "Case Synopsis for Eve" http://www.mote.org

C.R.O.W., "Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc." http://www.crowclinic.org/