PANAMA CITY, FL. (WMBB) — Gulf World Marine Institute is nursing another sea turtle back to health.
Brimsley the 120-pound loggerhead sea turtle was hooked when a Georgia family came down on October 3rd for a fishing trip. Whenever a turtle gets hooked it is hardly ever a good thing, but this time it was because the reptile was found with a missing left flipper and multiple neck injuries. The family contacted FWC who contacted Gulf World Marine Institute to start rehab right away.
Gulf World Marine Institute Stranding Coordinator Lauren Albrittain says Brimsley is in the early stages of recovery.
“We’re still waiting for Brimsley to get their appetite back. It’s very normal for turtles not to eat when they first come in, so we’re still doing regular medical care, antibiotics, fluid therapies, and cleaning the wound,” said Albrittain.
What happened to Brimsley you might ask well Albrittain says they aren’t sure what caused Brimsley’s flipper Trauma.
“There was some healing that had already started. We already saw some scar tissue forming over the wounds. It does not show any signs of being like a standard vessel strike that we would look for or an entanglement, said Albrittain. “So it doesn’t have the signs of a normal what I’ll say injury. That doesn’t mean that we can say one way or the other what it was.”
Gulf World has already released more than 60 sea turtles this year and with the cold season coming, they expect to start seeing cold-stunned turtles from the northeast. Brimsley may still be at Gulf World to see a lot of them arriving and leaving, said Albrittain.
“We haven’t noticed any huge progress yet. That can take a very long time. That can take weeks, that can take months. It can fluctuate. We have some turtles that we’ll start eating for a few days or weeks and then stop eating if things develop said Albrittain.”
The turtle is named after a character in Bridgeton’s TV show. If you want to follow the turtle’s journey you can click here.
