Sea turtle swallows balloon, is being treated at Mote

The 3.3-pound young turtle with a carapace 8.7 inches long washed up on a sandbar near the south end of Lido Key in Sarasota on Tuesday, with what appeared to be fishing line hanging from its mouth.

Before removing the pink line, which had scraped skin from the turtle”s face, Mote staff used radiographs to verify that the turtle had not swallowed a fishing hook. Instead, they found remnants of a black balloon.

“Balloons can look like jellyfish or squid – things sea turtles like to eat,” said Senior Biologist Kristen Mazzarella of Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program. “It’s extremely common to find sea turtles that have swallowed balloons, fishing hooks, monofilament lines and other dangerous objects.”

Swallowing trash can injure or kill sea turtles, all of which are considered endangered or threatened under federal law. Kemp’s ridleys, among the smallest and the rarest of the world’s seven sea turtle species, have visited Sarasota County only a handful of times to nest, but Mote’s Sea turtle hospital has rehabilitated dozens because of illness, disorientation and other problems.

(From bradenton.com, Sarasota, Florida)