Massive sea turtle back where it belongs after Florida photographer and rescue group step up
FLORIDA KEYS — It wasn’t an easy road back to water for the 322-pound loggerhead named Lenny.
The turtle was spotted injured, struggling to swim, near Alligator Reef off Islamorada in the Florida Keys in mid-March by underwater photographer Mike Papish.
“I saw he had a badly damaged flipper, and his face was a little mashed-up from a shark attack,” Papish said.
Papish and his friends with Sundance WaterSports took the turtle to the surface, then took him by boat to shore and transported him via “turtle ambulance” to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida.
The Turtle Hospital is a small nonprofit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles, the only one of its kind in Florida.
Once Lenny was there, manager Bette Zirkelbach knew it was a race against the clock.
“There are not a lot of predators, right, that could get a mouth around a turtle that size. So we are assuming it was a very large shark,” Zirkelbach said.
Lenny, who lost part of his front left flipper and has noticeable scarring on his head, was treated with IV fluids, subcutaneous fluids and broad-spectrum antibiotics.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only 1 in 1,000 seat turtle hatchlings survive to adulthood, so Lenny’s survival was vital for the next generation of his species.
“These turtles are up against a lot when they’re hatchlings. Everything eats baby turtles, from crabs to birds to fish, once they enter the ocean. Two red ant bites can kill a hatchling,” Zirkelbach said. “So when you realize that and what Lenny would have had to endure to make it out to sea and survive, you know, he beat the statistics.”
After a few weeks of care, Lenny was healthy enough to return to the sea.
On March 25, he was taken back out to the reef where he was found, and with his rescuer swimming behind with his camera, Lenny swam away.
“He looked back as I was getting his last shot, and then he just kind of waved,” Papish said.
