73.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesTurtle Good Hope Dies in Florida

Turtle Good Hope Dies in Florida

Hospital manager Bette Zirkelbach and veterinarian ophthalmologist Lorraine Karpinksi work on Good Hope (Photo courtesy of The Turtle Hospital).A pregnant hawksbill turtle found on St. Croix and named Good Hope died of pneumonia Tuesday at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Fla., according to hospital manager Bette Zirkelbach.

“She had a lot of sand in her lungs,” Zirkelbach said Wednesday. “It may be a dog attack.”

Good Hope was found at Good Hope Beach, St. Croix, on Aug. 24, just as Tropical Storm Isaac blew through. The turtle was laden with eggs.

It’s not the first turtle on St. Croix to be attacked by dogs, said William Coles, chief of environmental education at the Fish and Wildlife Division of the Planning and Natural Resources Department. Coles said another turtle was discovered on the beach near Palms at Pelican Cove.

“The lungs were packed full of sand,” he said.

The fate of those turtles that make it out to see after being attacked by dogs remains unknown, but Coles said it’s likely they also died because their lungs probably filled with sand.

Coles said he hopes that a method to diagnose when turtle lungs are filled with sand can be determined.

As for Good Hope, deep wounds to her flippers were obvious, and Zirkelbach said it initially appeared like she had been gaffed by fishermen. After a week’s worth of treatment on St. Croix, American Airlines flew the turtle as baggage to Miami. The Turtle Hospital staff picked her up and began treatment of what looked like gaff wounds to her flippers as well as a blood infection.

Zirkelbach said she was responding well.

“But there was something deep-seated in her lungs,” she said.

Good Hope’s passing came as a surprise to hospital staff, who found her dead just before she was scheduled for surgery to repair her swollen and torn eyelids that left her blind.

Prior to Tuesday’s necropsy, the remainder of Good Hope’s eggs were harvested. The 58 harvested joined those she laid that were deemed viable for a total of 119 incubating eggs. However, Zirkelbach said, it’s too soon to know if all the eggs will hatch.

“But that’s 119 reasons for hope,” she said.

She said any hatchlings will be returned to Good Hope Beach.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.