Pennywise, a 302-pound loggerhead sea turtle, was badly injured in a major boat strike along Florida’s Atlantic coast. That injury led to her being flown to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, where she was guaranteed emergency care. Staff noted considerable blunt force trauma to her carapace. By then, the injuries had started to heal after more than three weeks—almost a month—had gone by.
Loggerheads are an endangered species, and Pennywise’s tragic story exemplifies the persistent threats they continue to face in their waterways. When she arrived at the rehabilitation center, it was evident that Pennywise was too big for even the medical equipment available. As a result, a special CT scan was performed at Jupiter Medical Center with a horse-sized machine that had the capacity to service her enormous size.
Medical Evaluation and Treatment
Her CT scan showed that the bones surrounding Pennywise’s spinal cord were destroyed, alarming the entire medical staff. Her neurologic exam was reassuring. She had all of her nerves intact, which is a good sign.
“Luckily, right now, her neurologic exam shows that all those nerves are intact. And that is a great sign for her. We’re very excited about that and we’ll just be rechecking to make sure that we have no progression of the disease,” said Heather Barron, the veterinarian overseeing Pennywise’s care. “As soon as we feel like that wound is healed well enough, she can go back out into the wild.”
Pennywise’s injury illustrates an increasingly common plight for loggerhead turtles. This plight gets particularly acute during their mating and nesting season. Barron noted that Pennywise’s situation is a “textbook case of a turtle returning to the area for mating and nesting season, only to fall victim to an entirely preventable boat-strike injury.”
Rehabilitation and Future Prospects
Staff members recently learned that Pennywise is pregnant, underscoring how dire her plight is. This is difficult, as it adds yet another complex layer to her rehabilitation process. Loggerhead turtles typically nest several times a year. It’s important that we provide Pennywise with the greatest opportunity to be released back to the wild.
“We hope we’ll be able to get her back out there into the wild as soon as possible so that she can lay those eggs,” Barron stated, emphasizing the importance of timely rehabilitation.
The Loggerhead Marinelife Center, which rehabilitated Pennywise, is committed to the education, conservation and research of other turtle species. Collectively their efforts are making the world a better place for endangered species and are helping to educate others about the challenges that these magnificent beings face each day.
Impact of Human Activity on Sea Turtles
Pennywise’s case is a tragic but important reminder that human activities can have devastating effects on marine life. Boat strikes are a significant threat to loggerheads and other sea turtles, especially where they nest.
Education campaigns aimed at teaching boaters how to navigate safely among faster moving vessels will alleviate a large part of this risk. Loggerhead Marinelife Center is deeply involved in initiatives to decrease injuries from the most common human threat, boats.
Pennywise is in active rehab at the center. Her story highlights extraordinary resilience of these animals and sheds light on the threats they face in an increasingly hostile world. The medical team is cautiously optimistic that she will have a bright future and looks forward to her energetic return to the ocean.