Richard Moretti holds a Green sea turtle at The Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys. -- Photos courtesy of The Turtle Hospital

Staff at The Turtle Hospital have seen a range of injuries and illnesses over the years. But the condition of one particular Loggerhead turtle that arrived recently, astonished nearly everyone. The reptile, whose usual diet consists of shrimp and lobster, had ingested balloons, duct tape, a plastic glove, and the sole of a shoe!

"It took two countries to kill that turtle," explains Richard Moretti, director of the hospital, referring to the U.S.-stamped grommet and the Australian milled rice label that were also found in the animal's stomach. The objects are now on display in a glass case in the small museum nearby.

HUMAN DEBRIS

Human debris is just one of many hazards that sea turtles face in the wild. Fortunately, most of the 70 or so turtles that arrive at the hospital in an average year are successfully treated. And, since 1986 when the facility opened, more than 500 turtles have been released.

We learn all this on a visit to the hospital, which recently opened for public tours. An introductory slide show describes the five species of sea turtles found in the Keys -- the Green, Hawksbill, Leatherback, and Kemps Ridley, all of which are endangered, and a fifth, the Loggerhead, which is threatened.

It's tough being a turtle. Consider the hazards: Boat propellers, water pollution, fishing line and rope entanglement, loss of nesting habitat, and something called fibropapilloma. To hear Moretti talk about these debilitating viral tumours, which affect as many as half of the Green turtles in the Keys, you'd assume he had a background in marine biology.

Yet for years Moretti made a living in a completely different field -- repairing and selling used Volkswagen Beetles. He owned an auto shop in Orlando which employed 120 people, but quit the business for health reasons.

So how did a guy who fixed people's cars for a living end up helping injured turtles? You could say it all started on a fishing trip in 1984 when Moretti's girlfriend caught a tarpon and didn't want to let it go. The couple brought the fish home, released it in Moretti's in-ground pool and over the next year added a wide variety of other fish.

Soon, local schools found out and asked if they could bring children around to see them. "At the time, the Ninja Turtles were big and many of the kids asked about turtles," said Moretti. Buoyed by their curiosity, he inquired about getting the reptiles for his educational pond and was told by state officials that a rehabilitation facility was needed in the Keys.

ONLY ONE FLIPPER

"They said 'if a turtle gets hit by a boat you take it to the vet, you pay the bill, you buy the medicine, you buy the food and when they're healthy you let them go,' " relays Moretti. "I said 'I can do that,' and that's how I got involved with turtles."

Over at the rehab centre, we watch a six-year-old Loggerhead swimming remarkably well with only one flipper. Elsewhere, another turtle that arrived emaciated months earlier is now improving with regular feedings.

"One of the things that really impresses me is a turtle will come in and it's got a flipper hanging off because it got tangled up in fishing line, it's got a busted shell because it got hit by a boat, and it's covered with tumours -- and it's still trying," explains Moretti. "When you see an animal with that much heart trying to make it, there's no way I can do anything except give them the best of everything."

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A Loggerhead turtle injured by a fishing line.

BOTTOM LINE

Ninety-minute-long public tours are available seven days a week at 10 a.m. Stand-by tours are at 4:30 p.m. Reservations should be made in advance. Admission is $15 US for adults, and $7.50 for children. Located at mile marker 49 bayside.

Visit theturtlehospital.org. or call 305-743-2552.

A young Green sea turtle.