Jacey Birch, Anchor
Published: June 16, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Jacey Birch, Anchor
MARATHON, Fla. – The Turtle Hospital, which has been open for about four decades in Marathon, is suffering from budget cuts, but eco-tourism has been helping.
Leer en español
The hospital is home to a turtle that is blind in one eye and lost half of a flipper after surviving a predator’s attack, a hit by a boat, and an entanglement.
“We just help people to fall in love with sea turtles and what we do with the things that we love is we protect and care for them,” Bette Zirkelbach, the hospital’s manager, said.
Terry Norton, the hospital’s lead veterinarian, said that to keep the turtle alive after the recovery, they will not be releasing it from the hospital. The rehab has a 70% success rate.
“To release turtles here, we do require them to have at least three working flippers and one eye,” Norton said.
Zirkelbach said there are seven species of sea turtle in the world, five are found off the Florida Keys, and these are all on the federal endangered species list.
“We have returned over 3,000 sea turtles back to the wild, but the much bigger reach than that is people seeing us care for these animals,” Zirkelbach said.
The hospital educates tourists on the effects of plastic pollution such as discarded fishing nets and lines, and the impact of warming waters and climate changes.
“My wonderful wife was like, ‘Hey! We’re going down to the Keys, there’s this turtle hospital, you gotta see it!’ And, I said yes,” Peter Boyarski, a tourist from California, said.
Norton said his work at the hospital allows him to be innovative.
“Trying a lot of different things that you get faced with, things that you have never seen before,” Norton said.
General admission is $35.
Here is how to connect:
Main page: https://turtlehospital.org/
IG: @marathonturtlehospital
Facebook: The Turtle Hospital
TikTok: @turtlehospital
Youtube: @TheTurtleHospitalMarathon
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Jacey Birch is Local 10's Animal Advocate reporter and investigator for animal stories. She is also a weekend evening anchor.
email
TV Listings
Email Newsletters
RSS Feeds
Closed Captioning / Audio Description
Contact Us
Careers at WPLG
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Public File
FCC Applications
EEO Report
Do Not Sell My Info
1.0 Host Exhibit
Cookie Preferences
If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526
Copyright © 2025 Local10.com is published by WPLG INC., a Berkshire Hathaway company.

source