Something especially unordinary happened today. While surfing with a group of about 10 guys just a few hundred yards south of the Sand Key jetty we noticed a sea turtle floating through the surf. In all the years of surfing at that beach I’ve never seen anything like it.
We initially saw it floating by with the back end of it’s shell floating on the surface of the water. It was floating in a way that would suggest it was dead. It didn’t appear to be alive. After watching it for a little while, as it floated right next to us, people were noticing it sticking it’s head up out of the water. Surfers were saying, it’s sticking its head up. One of the older guys in the water who I’ve known for many years approached me and said, “The turtle is still alive, sticking its head out of the water.” He said it in a way that I would noticed what was being said and take action. I responded quickly. I said, I guess we should do something about it. I told him I would go grab it. He was obviously hesitant to pick up a turtle with such a sharp beak. We paddled over to it.
After a brief struggle to grab the slippery turtle’s shell, with it swimming away from us each time we tried to grab it, I finally got a hold on it. I pulled it up onto my surfboard. The turtle was obviously in need of care after taking a close look at. At first we thought it might have something to do with the growth on the turtle around it’s rear legs. Then we identified it’s anus appeared to have blockage and that it could be constipated. After looking a bit longer I noticed it’s right eye appeared to be ruptured, or consumed by a similar growth on its head. All this we noticed while grabbing it, and after holding it on top of the surfboard. The turtle was in need of help.
The two of us sitting on our surfboards in the lineup just about 100 feet from the cluster of surfers in the water struggled to make a decision about what to do with the turtle. The other surfers in the lineup appeared to be ignoring what we were doing. First, I suggested someone go to the beach to find someone with a phone to call the professionals. The other surfer seemed to be frozen. He was hesitant to do anything. It was almost as if he thought the turtle might not really need any help. He was saying that the turtle still had a lot of energy based on it’s ability to swim a foot or two down into the water, then watch it float back up to the surface. He said he could take it to the aquarium, then I pointed out that it needed to be kept warm and transporting it might be difficult since the water was around the upper 60s, with air closer to 60 degrees today. It was a big difference between water temperature and air temperature, about 10 degrees. Moving it could be a shock to its system, especially if not done right. I also pointed out that I couldn’t really hold the turtle and move it to the beach while sitting on the surfboard. It was a real conundrum. I said I could give him the turtle while I go get my phone and call someone to come get it. This is where the story goes all wrong.
It was a real tragedy. I gave him the turtle to hold while I went in to get my camera and my phone. He ended up dropping the turtle, then came in to the beach. The turtle was still floating there while we were standing there looking at it from the beach. I said, go back out there and get it while I go get my phone. I walked to the car. When I was walking back out with phone and camera in hand, I saw him walking in. I said, “What happened?” He said that when he walked back out into the water, “The turtle swam under a wave, and it disappeared!” It’s unfortunate, because this turtle was so obviously in need of life saving help.
I realize that it was all my fault that this turtle is probably going to end up dead within the next few days. I just wasn’t prepared for this type of thing. I should have gotten off my surfboard, swam the turtle in to the beach, and brought it over to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Had I done that, the turtle would probably be in the warm care of the professionals who treat critically injured marine life, including sea turtles, on a regular basis. I really screwed this one up.
