Expand / Collapse search
☰

Sea turtles washing up on Florida's coast with mysterious illness

By Elina Shirazi
Updated  March 12, 2021 9:14am EST
Ocala
FOX 35 Orlando

Sea turtles suffer mystery illness

Sea turtles along Florida's Atlantic Coast from Jacksonville to Brevard County are washing up on shore. Researchers say they have a mysterious illness and wildlife experts are trying to identify the cause.

COCOA BEACH, Fla. - Chad and Flip are two of about 16 green sea turtles that washed ashore on Brevard County’s beaches.

Shannon Gann with the Brevard Zoo Sea Turtle Healing Center says they’ve been nursing these turtles back to health, most of them impacted by a strange illness that experts here can’t seem to pinpoint. 
 
"They are coming in covered in barnacles and are debilitated is what it is called. That’s what we say when we really don’t know what is causing it," said Gann.
 
Right now, the sea turtles are being given fluids, antibiotics, and vitamins. 

RELATED: Coast Guard helps release 200 baby sea turtles off the Florida coast
 
"The turtles are lethargic, have very low blood glucose, which means they are very sickly, unable to move about," said Gann.
 
Gann says they are able to rehabilitate them in three to four months and eventually send them back to the ocean. 
 
"The Florida Fish and Wildlife conservation commission will actually send out a trained volunteer, someone who can actually deal with that turtle, and bring it to the rehab facilities here in Brevard County," Gann added. 
 
There is a way the public can help out. If you see one of these turtles, please call the FWC at 1-888-404-3922 to report a sighting. 

Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.