Florida Aquarium sea turtle rehab center features 'foraging pool' in Apollo Beach

Florida Aquarium uses pool to help turtles heal

FOX 13 photojournalist Barry Wong introduces us to the 11-foot-deep ‘foraging pool’ at its Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center in Apollo Beach.

APOLLO BEACH, Fla. - The Florida Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center features an 11-foot-deep foraging pool, one of only a handful in the state.

When the center in Apollo Beach receives an injured or sick sea turtle that has challenges swimming, caretakers can place the turtle into a two-week deep-dive behavioral assessment. Those challenges can come from a damaged or missing flipper. Front flippers are used for propulsion, while rears are used as rudders.

"What we're trying to figure out is can this turtle be a turtle and do it successfully out in the wild," Florida Aquarium Sea Turtle Conservation Director Ashley Riese said. "Not only are we assessing if they can get down to the deeper water, but we're actually looking at their behaviors and how they are moving and using that water column."

Those behaviors impact how a turtle can forage for food, find shelter or evade predators.

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"We're going to want to know how can that turtle swim and how can that turtle move within that water column. Not so much just the depth, and can we get to depth, but can they control their buoyancy? Can they move? Can they steer? Can they evade anything that might be of concern?" Riese explained.

Riese said each two-week trial is tailored to individual turtles. Sometimes caretakers can choose to extend the trial. After the trial concludes, data is analyzed to determine whether the sea turtle can be released back into the wild.

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"When they are successful or even just making progress, you look at it like a proud mama, like how they're actually doing it, given all of their injuries and trauma that they have had to overcome. They're working for that, which is fantastic," Riese said.

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