We heard about a sea turtle hospital during the Turtle Talk at Holden Beach and found out that give tours, so we decided to detour on our way home up to Surf City and check it out. They are a facility that rehabilitates sick and injured sea turtles from up and down the east coast. A large number are turtles that didn't make it out to warmer waters before the winter hit in New England and have to be shipped down here to recover from nearly freezing to death.
They're kept in these huge pools and are fed, brushed (though some don't like that much) and examined daily by trained medical staff in the hopes that they will eventually be released back in to the ocean.
They range in size from 200+ lbs down to 10 lbs.
They do have one permanent resident because the turtle is blind and wouldn't be able to survive in the wild.
This one had had a major wound on its shell, probably from a boat propeller, so they had to put medicine and lotions on it every few hours.
He was not happy about the process and was constantly slapping his flippers on the table trying to get away.
