WEST PALM BEACH, Fl, July 31, 2011—On August 3rd at 10:00am, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center will release Andre, an endangered green sea turtle, back into the wild.
If you can’t be at the beach to watch, you can watch it live on their website.
Many workers who knew Andre were skeptical about his recovery. Beachgoers brought Andre to the Marinelife Center on June 15 2010 after they saw him stranded on a nearby sandbar.
Dr. Nancy Mettee, DVM, staff veterinarian at the Center, diagnosed Andre as a victim of multiple watercraft injuries.
Andre arrived at the Center with a badly damaged shell and an exposed body cavity corroded with more than three pounds of sand. His body was infected from the exposure and sand, his internal organs were displaced, he had a collapsed lung and pneumonia.
The Marinelife Center worked with several other organizations to heal Andre, using revolutionary techniques.
As the Marinelife web site states, it worked “with Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI), a San Antonio-based company that specializes in new technologies and therapies designed to make wound healing manageable for caregivers and more comfortable for patients. KCI worked with Dr. Mettee to implant Strattice™ Reconstructive Tissue Matrix, an acellular skin matrix that acts as a scaffold until Andre’s wounds were revascularized and repopulated with the turtle’s own functional, living tissue.” KCI also provided V.A.C. therapy to help heal Andre’s wounds by “delivering negative pressure at the wound site.”
The Center worked with Dr. Alberto Vargas, DMD, MS, of Vargas Orthodontics in Jupiter, Florida, to rebuilt Andre’s shell.
Using a new technique for turtles, they translated procedures used in human orthodontics to Andre. Dr. Vargas took molds of Andre’s shell and created custom fixtures, or palate expanders, to help the shell grow. A transplant plan in Dr. Vargas’ team took molds of the turtle’s shell to create custom fixtures, just like they would to treat a human patient. Drs. Vargas and Mettee worked together to create a treatment plan.
Andre is now healed, thanks to the creativity and dedication of the Center. They are timing his release in hopes that he will mate for next nesting season.
Until Wednesday, you can watch Andre here, on the Loggerhead Marinelife Center Turtle Cam.
(Please note that there is a slide show of Andre and some of the techniques used to heal his shell below)
About the Loggerhead Marinelife Center (from their website)
The Loggerhead Marinelife Center is dedicated to ocean conservation efforts specifically through education and research efforts of LMC staff and volunteers. We can not do this alone - we need your help to speak on behalf of the endangered sea turtles and other marine life found in our coastal waters.
The Center now hosts over 16,000 school children each year through field trips, outreach programs, summer camp and other educational experiences. In addition, another 200,000 visitors come to the Center each year to see the exhibits and the sea turtle hospital – the only sea turtle hospital between Orlando and the Florida Keys!
In April 2007, the organization relocated to a new 12,000 square foot "green" facility and changed its name to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
The new facility includes a state-of-the-art full service veterinary hospital, exhibit hall, outdoor classroom, research lab, and resource center. A visit is not complete without a stop in the marine-oriented gift and book shop, featuring an excellent selection of children's educational books and unique gift and craft items. Park amenities include a guarded beach, nature trail, playground and picnic pavilions.
The Loggerhead Marinelife Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit education and ocean conservation facility located on the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach County, Florida. The facility houses a variety of exhibits, live sea turtles and other coastal creatures. Exhibits include a massive prehistoric Archelon sea turtle replica, salt-water aquaria and displays of local wildlife, as well as educational displays about South Florida's marine.
If you wish to help other turtles, like Andre, get a second chance at life, tax deductable donations are easily made by visiting the web site donation page.
LOGGERHEAD MARINELIFE CENTER
14200 U.S. Highway One, Juno Beach FL 33408
Phone: 561.627.8280 | Fax: 561.627.8305
info@marinelife.or
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