Orlando Health has bought into Brevard Zoo’s sea turtle rehab efforts ‘hook, line and sinker.’
Threatened and endangered sea turtles gulp down fish hooks, lines and weights, as well as tar, plastic bits and all sorts of other deadly items they mistake for food.
To help Brevard Zoo’s sea turtle rehab center better scope for and remove those items, Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center Endoscopy Unit has donated advanced endoscopy equipment to the zoo and is lending its expertise to zoo vets.
Orlando Health’s doctors and zoo’s vets will collaborate to improve diagnosis, procedures and treatment of digestive problems in sea turtles.
“We’re honored to collaborate with Brevard Zoo’s veterinary team by providing this specialized equipment,” Dr. George Christophi, gastroenterologist at Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital, said in a press release. “By sharing our expertise, we can help support the veterinary team at Brevard Zoo to ensure the sea turtles in need continue to receive the most accurate, effective surgical care and improve their chances of recovery.”
‘Sophia’ was patient No. 1
The suffering of a threatened sea turtle dubbed “Sophia” sort of got it all going.
Donation of Orlando Health’s specialized equipment was spurred on by the arrival of 114-pound loggerhead sea turtle, Sophia, found to have 20-plus hooks in her gastrointestinal tract, along with fishing line, Orlando Health said in a press release.
The zoo’s vet team removed two hooks, but most of the hooks and the fishing line remain due to difficulties accessing parts of Sophia’s digestive tract and a lack of the tools needed to remove hooks.
Orlando Health’s donation of the tools needed, and Dr. Christophi’s technical expertise, will enable the zoo’s vet team to try to remove more of the hooks, and potentially cut or remove the fishing line. The goal is to nurse Sophia back to health enough to return her home to the ocean.
Beyond the equipment, the sea turtle patients will benefit from Orlando Health’s expertise, added Dr. Rachel Turner, director of veterinary programs at Brevard Zoo. “In addition to the technology itself, this is an invaluable opportunity for collaboration and education between our two teams.”
Physicians from Orlando Health will consult on procedural approaches.
“As gastroenterologists, we use this technology every day to perform minimally invasive procedures that improve patient outcomes,” Dr. Christophi said. “Being able to help sea turtle patients is incredibly rewarding. This collaboration demonstrates how medical innovation and teamwork can extend beyond human healthcare to benefit the broader community.”
Waymer covers the environment and government. Contact him at (321) 261-5903 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Orlando Health doctors help Brevard Zoo save sea turtles from hooks
Reporting by Jim Waymer, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Waymer, Florida Today | USA TODAY Network
