Loggerhead Marinelife Center

05/30/2026

Did you know that each of these sea turtles are satellite tracked?  You can follow their journeys right from our website! 🐢📍

From crossing entire oceans to returning to familiar coastlines, these turtles help our research team better understand sea turtle behavior, migration patterns, and conservation needs.

Find your birth month’s turtle and learn more about the incredible journeys happening beyond the shoreline. 🌊

Visit our website to explore all of our tracked turtles and follow their travels in real time!

05/29/2026

A Different Kind of Listening: Leatherback Encounters” 🐢🌕

Jen Reilly, Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s Senior Biologist and Deaf sea turtle biologist, shares a reflection on finding connection with nesting leatherback sea turtles through touch, presence, and the powerful vibrations felt beneath her hands.

Read her story below:

I’ve worked with leatherback sea turtles for over ten years now - this is my 12th season monitoring these same beaches.

For years, I heard my research team describe the sounds leatherbacks make while nesting - deep breaths, grunts, low, unmistakable noises. Being Deaf, I could only imagine them through footage and descriptions.

Last season, that changed.

As I worked up a massive female and ran my measuring tape across her carapace, I suddenly felt a vibration beneath my hands.

I froze.

That was it.

Not something I heard - but something I felt.
A connection I had only imagined for years.
And honestly, it meant everything.

I felt every deep rumble as she breathed and shifted her ~1,000-pound body. Each vibration brought the moment to life in a way words can’t fully capture. I was completely over the moon.

This nesting season, under a full moon in complete darkness, I experienced it again.

Another leatherback.
The same quiet, powerful feeling beneath my hands.

A reminder that connection doesn’t always come through sound - it can come through touch, presence, and attention.

I’m deeply grateful to my research team for creating an inclusive, accessible field environment where I can grow as a Deaf biologist in this work.

And if there’s one thing I hope this story makes clear, it’s this:

There is space in marine biology and conservation for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and for anyone who has ever felt like they don’t fit the “traditional” idea of a biologist.

The ocean speaks in many ways.
Sometimes, you just have to feel it.

05/28/2026

Did you know we have a café right here on campus? 🐢

Whether you are stopping by after a tour or taking a break between exhibits, Tortuga Café makes it easy to grab lunch, snacks, or a coffee without missing a moment of your visit.

Tortuga Café is open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. right here at Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

05/28/2026

05/27/2026

These are the faces you are voting for! 🐢

From tiny hatchlings to resilient rehabilitation patients, every turtle at LMC represents why this work matters.

We’re proud to be nominated for ‘s 2026 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Free Attraction, and with your help, we’re hoping to make it three years in a row at No. 1 🏆

Don’t forget, you can vote once a day through the link in the comment section. Every single vote helps us continue inspiring ocean conservation through the turtles in our care!

05/26/2026

This Turtle Tuesday Spotlight is on Beluga! 🐢💙

Beluga, a green sea turtle currently in rehabilitation at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, continues to make progress on the road to recovery after arriving with a severe front flipper injury that required surgical repair and stabilization.

Our veterinary and rehabilitation teams are continuing to monitor Beluga closely while helping this resilient patient regain strength and mobility every step of the way.

Beluga is adoptable! Symbolically adopting a sea turtle helps support the specialized care, treatment, and rehabilitation patients like Beluga receive each day as they work toward a hopeful return to the ocean. 🌊
You can adopt Beluga online through the link in our bio or in person at our gift store.

05/25/2026

This Memorial Day weekend, we pause to honor and remember those who gave their lives in service to our country 🇺🇸

If you are spending the long weekend with friends and family, we invite you to visit us at Loggerhead Marinelife Center. We are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including Memorial Day 🐢

And if you are out on the water this weekend, please keep an eye out for our sea turtle neighbors. Boat strikes remain a serious risk during nesting season, and small moments of awareness can make a big difference 🌊

📸:

boatresponsibility

05/24/2026

Go Slow for Those Below. Your awareness on the water can make a critical difference for sea turtles. We’re teaming up with our friends to help get the word out to the boating community.

Each year from March 1 through October 31, thousands of sea turtles move through nearshore waters during nesting season, often just beneath the surface and difficult to see from a boat. In Palm Beach County, boat strikes remain one of the leading threats to sea turtles, and even a single impact can cause life-threatening injuries or death.

Participate in the voluntary Sea Turtle Protection Zone (STPZ) within one mile of the shoreline by reducing your speed, staying alert, and wearing polarized sunglasses. These small changes can significantly lower the risk of these interactions and make a major difference for animals navigating the same waters.

Remember: Watch your speed to help them breathe and Go Slow for Those Below.🐢

05/24/2026

Happy world turtle day! A behind-the-scenes look at the inventory of our first hatched leatherback nest of the season! 🐢

Forty-six leatherback hatchlings successfully made their way to the ocean naturally during this emergence. During the nest inventory, our team also located 17 live hatchlings still inside the nest, helping even more hatchlings safely begin their journey to sea.

This nest was inventoried under FWC-permitted activities three days after an emergence was documented. During nest inventories, researchers collect important data, including how many eggs hatch, how many hatchlings emerge naturally from the nest, and the total number of eggs laid in the nest. This information helps researchers better understand reproductive success and supports long-term sea turtle population monitoring and conservation efforts.

Special thanks to Engel Coolers for helping us keep hatchlings protected and comfortable throughout the inventory process. 🌊

05/21/2026

This week we are spotlighting a fiery patient making a remarkable recovery; Aelin. This juvenile green turtle came to us with brutal injuries from an accidental boat strike in the intracoastal waterway in late March. After seeing the broken pieces of her shell move with each breath, and hearing the hospital referring to her as “nameless” patient since she had just arrived, a name sprang to mind; Aelin. (Any Throne of Glass fans out there? IYKYK)

Aelin is battling her way through recovery, and making great progress thanks to customized care by our team. After being dry-docked with a wound vac to stabilize her shell, followed by surgery to remove dead bone and more wound vac time, Aelin is on the mend and out in one of our larger hospital pools. She is getting regular exams and wound cleaning as she continues to heal.

Be sure to visit Aelin and our other sea turtle patients on your next visit. And remember to Go Slow for Those Below if you are out boating this time of year. We can prevent injuries like these just by slowing down and keeping watch for these beautiful turtles. ❤️‍🩹🐢

05/21/2026