Turtles and Dolphins - Marathon Florida

Marathon, FL (76 degrees, blue sky day)

Asher (green)

"Helping sea turtles survive...rescue, rehab, and release".  This is the mission of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon.  We met Asher, the green turtle in the picture above and many others who are recovering from flipper injuries, tumors, infections, boat collision injuries, and much more.  This hospital has an actual surgery suite on site and does some amazing work with all sorts of turtles. 

Surgery suite

Admission is $15 and reservations are recommended.  Our tour guide gave a very informative tour of the facility and told us so much about their mission and dedication to helping turtles.

Our tour guide

The facility was once a small motel and many of the turtles recover in what was once a large swimming pool for the motel guests.  The staff and volunteers rescue turtles all over Florida and have treated over 1000 of them with most being released after recovery.  We were all fascinated and impressed by the work being done and our tour guide was top notch.  Currently they are treating 29 turtles. 

Smaller pools for intensive treatment

Large pool for therapy

Finn (loggerhead)

If you are visiting in the keys, we would highly recommend stopping here.  It was a very interesting tour and your fees help them continue to treat and educate others about turtles. 

 

 

We also stopped at the Dolphin Research Center. At one time Flipper was trained and is now buried here.  It has been owned and operated by many individuals and groups over the years.  We chose to pay a $20 admission to tour the grounds and see some of the dolphin shows in progress.  However, if you want to swim or interact with a dolphin the price ranges up to $675/person.  Wow!

 

 



 

 

The grounds were pretty and there are several pools where the dolphins swim and perform.  We were not told of any current research being done and it seemed more like a water park  to us.  It was also mentioned dolphins are no longer rescued in the wild by this facility  due to risk of infection. 

 

 

The dolphins did put on a good show and for $20 it was worth the admission.  It was fun to hear their squeals after performing and see their awesome athletic ability.  However, we much preferred the turtle hospital and it's mission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Check back tomorrow to read about a very cool kayak trip with Blue Planet Kayak in Boca Chica.