Sea Turtle Rehabilitation

The need for sea turtle rehabilitation facilities in Belize is growing.  Turtle Network members are working on locating funding to get in place proper facilities to receive, hold and treat sick and injured sea turtles, and to conduct Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Workshops.  This page describes best practices for sea turtle rehabilitation, an overview of existing facilities and and summaries of live stranded sea turtles that have undergone rehabilitation in Belize.

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Best Practices of Sea Turtle Rehabilitation - 3 Rs - Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release

Members of the Belize Sea Turtle Conservation Network are guiding future rehabilitation and care of sick and injured sea turtles under the guidance of the Belize Fisheries Department since all sea turtles are protected under the Belize Fisheries Regulations.  

While there is a need for rehabilitation facilities, these facilities need to be properly equipped, maintained and staffed with knowledgeable persons.  Properly run facilities can also be important centers to increase awareness for the conservation of sea turtles.

The basic principles behind sea turtle rehabilitation are: rescue, rehabilitate and release.  While sea turtles can take long to recover, sea turtles are wild animals and should not be held in captivity longer than necessary.  When sea turtles are no longer lethargic and are observed to be eating and swimming about normally, they should be released back into the sea.

There exist excellent reference manuals for those interested in learning more about caring for sick and injured sea turtles.

From Mandelc et al 2002

Reference Materials

Bluvias, Jessie E. and Karen L. Eckert. 2010. Marine Turtle Trauma Response Procedures: A Husbandry Manual. Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) Technical Report No. 10. Ballwin, Missouri. 100 pp.

Mandelc, F., Carr, S., Waples, K., and R. Haering. 2002. Guidelines and conditions for marine reptile strandings, rehabilitation and release in New South Wales. National Parks and Wildlife Service. Australia. 73 pp.

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Successful Rehabilitation

Photo courtesy Melanie Day

Loggerhead   Hol Chan

Juvenile loggerhead turtle that was being rehabilitated by Hol Chan Marine Reserve at the end of the pier at Amigios del Mar.  Juvenile loggerhead turtles are rare in Belize, please report any observed and try to get pictures! 

OLIVE

Photo Kirah Forman

Olive Ridley   186 Days   Hol Chan

Olive is a prime example of why it is important to report all stranded sea turtles.  Olive is the first observed olive ridley turtle that was found by a fisherman floating in discarded fishing line near Hol Chan Marine Reserve on Feb 6, 2011.  Biologists at Hol Chan and Bacalar Chico Marine Reserves were able to rehabilitate Olive and released her on Aug 10, 2011.   A satellite tag donated by Dr Todd Rimkus from Hawskbill Hope/Marymount University was applied to Olive prior to her release.  Sadly the tag transmitted for less than two weeks.  A profile of the depths indicates she was able to dive, and feed, which suggests that her tag feel off, stopped working, or she died.

Click here for the San Pedro Sun's report on Olive's release!

GREEDY

Photo ECOMAR

Hawksbill   ~1000+ Days   St George's Caye

Greedy is a hawksbill turtle that was found stranded on the beach at St. George's Caye in 2008 and kept at the St. George's Caye Aquarium until Sep 2011 when she was tagged with a PIT tag and released on the shallow fore reef at  North Gallow's Point where there are other turtles her size.  

VICTORIA

Photo courtesy Hol Chan Marine Reserve.

Loggerhead    30 Days
Hol Chan & Bacalar Chico

Female loggerhead turtle found near Victoria House that had been tied up by fishermen and escaped.  The rope used to tie her flippers had embedded into her skin and fish had been nibbling on her flippers too.  It is amazing she survived at sea without being able to use her flippers.  On July 25, 2012, she was released at the Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve.

Hawksbills - Aug 2011
St. George's Caye

Two hawksbill sea turtles residing at the St. George's Caye Aquarium.  The smaller hawksbill was found in Aug 2011 on the beach by the manager's wife of St. George's Lodge and delivered to the aquarium.  When and where the larger sea turtle was found stranded is unknown.  Both sea turtles are very actively seeking food and should be released back into the sea very soon.

OILEY

Photo courtesy Hol Chan Marine Reserve.

Green - JUN 2012
​36 Days   Hol Chan

On July 24, 2012 this juvenile green turtle was found covered in petroleum tar near Hol Chan Marine Reserve.  Hol Chan Marine Reserve staff cleaned the oil off the turtle and wiped as much out of its mouth as possible.  On Aug 29, 2012 Oiley was released back into the sea.

The source of the petroleum tar is unknown.  It is possible the turtle swam into an oil slick that was deposited into the ocean outside of Belize.  Of course an oiled covered turtle is cause for concern considering the sensitive issue of offshore oil drilling and the recent oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico where sea turtles and other marine life suffered.

HOPE 4 FREYA

Loggerhead Jul 2015 

​Freya, a subadult loggerhead sea turtle was rescued by Gilbert "Hilly Boo" Lara, from Freedom Fishing Tours, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, while he was enroute to Belize City.  Hilly Boo observed birds picking on the sea turtle and noted that she was not able to dive down and escape the attack, so he picked her up and put her in his boat.  He contacted Fisheries and Hol Chan contacted ECOMAR who picked up the turtle in Belize City.  The turtle's left front flipper was severed and bone and flesh was protruding from the open wound and there were numerous scratches on her shell suggesting that she had recently been attacked by a shark.  ECOMAR transported her to the Animal Medical Center where Dr Jayne Crawford stitched up the flipper lost to the shark.  Her carapace and plastron were also scratched up as a result of the attack, but were superficial wounds.  ECOMAR transported the injured turtle to the St George's Caye Research Station & Field School, which had an team of archaeology students on the island, who named the turtle after the Nordic mythological goddess of love, beauty and destiny.  She was kept in a shallow pool upon her arrival and was monitored 24/7.  On day 3 Dr Phillip Deshield made a visit to St George's Caye and checked on Freya's recovery and was pleased with her progress.  On the morning of her 4th day she ate a dozen small fish and was moved to a deeper container where she demonstrated that she could dive down and stay at depth.  A group of students from the New York Film Academy that arrived during Freya's stay is featuring the rehab, release and tagging in a short documentary for their class project, and is also preparing a DIY on applying a satellite tag. Freya is the first loggerhead sea turtle tagged by satellite telemetry in Belize and the data from her migration path will be extremely useful in comparing her species migration to that of the hawksbill, and green sea turtles.  It will also us to monitor her migration as she continues to recover back in the sea.  There is HOPE for FREYA thank to Hawksbill Hope, Marymount University and Dr Todd Rimkus for his support of sea turtle conservation in Belize.

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Unsuccessful Rehabilitation

In 2012 there were two adult female hawksbill sea turtles that were found stranded, one in Hopkins and one near Frenchmen Caye in the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.  Turtle Network members worked together to provide the best care and treatment for these turtles but despite their best efforts these turtles did not survive.  Some turtles are too ill to be treated successfully, but both cases provided an impetus to establish sea turtle rehabilitation facilities throughout Belize.

La Extranjera

Photo ECOMAR

Hawksbill - Jan 2012
Hopkins, Belize City, Hol Chan & Xcaret

While walking along the beach in Hopkins Judell Nunez observed this sick turtle floating along the shore.  Turtle Network members quickly put into action a team of volunteers to recover the turtle and transport it to Belize City.  The hawksbill turtle was obviously very sick since it was covered in numerous small barnacles.  Fisheries Department Biologist Kirah Forman flew in from Ambergris Caye and directed volunteers to remove the barnacles and administered IV solutions.  The turtle was transported to Hol Chan where the turtle was rehabilitated for about a month before being transferred to better equipped facilities at Xcaret, Mexico.  Sadly even the better facilities in Mexico could not save this sick turtle and she later died there.  Her caregivers named her La Extranjera, or stranger, since the turtle was from Belize.

WINDY

Photo courtesy ECOMAR.

Hawksbill - Jan 2012
Abalone Caye, Punta Gorda

Reef CI first observed Windy near Frenchmen Caye in Port Honduras.  TIDE responded to the stranding and housed Windy at Abalone Caye initially.  When she was not recovering she was brought into Punta Gorda and flown to Belize City courtesy Tropic Air where she was kept in a 500 vat at the Fisheries Department.  Dr. Jane Crawford from the Animal Medical Center in Belize City administered fluids and blood work was taken and analyzed.  While Windy did not eat any food she appeared to be healthy, only that she was accumulating gas inside her carapace and would list to one side.  She died suddenly one night and ECOMAR conducted the necropsy.   The necropsy indicated that Windy had a blockage in her gastrointestinal track which likely lead to the gas accumulation, but she also had numerous tumors in her left lung and some already forming in her right lung.  Clotted blood was also found within her left bronchii.  Turtle Network members worked very closely to provide the very best care for Windy and as a result of this incidence some members are working hard at establishing proper rehabilitation facilities for sea turtles within Belize.

Turtle necropsy report can be accessed by opening link on report cover to the left. 

Loggerhead - 2016 - Ambergris Caye Turtle Project

Adult female loggerhead was found off Caye Caulker entangled in monofilament fishing line.   Ambergris Caye Turtle Project removed fishing line from the exterior part of the animal but the turtle had already ingested fishing line.  They monitored the turtle for recovery, but sadly the turtle was not able to pass the fishing line.  Dr Brian Stacy,  NOAA, performed the necropsy during a Sea Turtle Workshop organized by the Fisheries Department, where it was found that the fishing line had caused the intestines to become twisted and the animal was not able to feed which resulted in its death.    

PLEASE BE SURE TO PROPERLY DISPOSE OF ALL FISHING LINE ON LAND!