Brevard Zoo Conservation Report 2016 | Page 12

Sea Turtle Healing Center Surviving human threats Just a couple of years ago, there were no rehabilitation clinics capable of caring for sea turtles in Brevard County. This meant sick and injured turtles had to be driven up to 100 miles to receive the care they needed! In the spring of 2014, we stepped up to solve that problem by opening the Sea Turtle Healing Center in partnership with the Sea Turtle Conservancy and Sea Turtle Preservation Society. Help Heal Me boat strikes We are now one of only five facilities in Florida that can care for those infected with fibropapillomatosis (FP), a disease that causes the growth of large warty tumors. We can treat up to 20 animals at a time. Unfortunately, in some cases the sea turtles are too sick and the damage is already irreversible, such as with severe FP, and they need to be euthanized. However, the work that we are doing and the education that we are providing to the public is already helping more sea turtles survive. 11 2014-2015 Patients Green Loggerhead Kemps Ridley Total 71 27 2 Washback Post-hatchlings 13 12 1 Sub-adults/ Adults 0 15 0 Juveniles 58 0 1 Died 51 17 1 Released 10 10 0 Patients 10 0 1 fishing hook ingestion fibropapillomatosis