{"id":239284,"date":"2025-07-05T05:20:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T05:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/239284\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T05:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T05:20:15","slug":"diver-sees-an-enormous-turtle-on-the-sea-floor-and-realizes-he-needs-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/239284\/","title":{"rendered":"Diver Sees An Enormous Turtle On The Sea Floor And Realizes He Needs Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Mike Papish, a diver and underwater photographer, first spotted Lenny \u2014 a 322-pound loggerhead sea turtle \u2014 he knew he needed to get him help. The turtle wasn\u2019t using his front flipper, which was partially missing, and he had wounds on his head.<\/p>\n

\"LargeMike Papish<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was most certainly from a shark attack,\u201d Papish told The Dodo of Lenny\u2019s injuries.<\/p>\n

But rescuing a turtle of Lenny\u2019s magnitude was no easy feat. It took the combined efforts of Papish and a crew of divers from Sundance Watersports<\/a> to bring the loggerhead to their boat. And that\u2019s when the realities of transporting a wild animal the size of a grand piano set in: \u201cOnce we got him fully on board, it wasn\u2019t even over,\u201d Papish said. \u201cWe had to barricade him with three gigantic ice chests full of ice, and even those he was able to just swat out of the way, so it took all four of us sitting on giant chests of ice barricaded around Lenny to get him back to shore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"InjuredMike Papish<\/p>\n

On land, Lenny was taken to The Turtle Hospital<\/a> in Marathon, Florida, where he received fluids, wound care, antibiotics and laser therapy.<\/p>\n

To call Lenny\u2019s arrival at the hospital a \u201cgrand entrance\u201d would be an understatement: \u201cHe was the largest loggerhead that I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201c said Bette Zirkelbach, the manager of The Turtle Hospital. And, in her 13 years of managing the facility, she\u2019s seen more than her fair share of sea turtles. The nonprofit hospital, which is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing sea turtles in the Florida Keys, has treated more than 3,000 patients since it was founded in 1984.<\/p>\n

THE TURTLE HOSPITAL\/MARATHON TURTLE HOSPITAL<\/p>\n

After just two weeks of care at the hospital, Lenny was ready to be released.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was critical to get Lenny back out there because it was mating season in the Florida Keys,\u201d Zirkelbach said. Loggerhead turtles are an endangered species. And Lenny, who is estimated to be 60 to 70 years old, is of reproductive maturity.<\/p>\n

\u201cSea turtles are a vital part of the ecosystem,\u201d Papish explained. \u201cThey keep our seagrasses in check by grazing them like cows do. If they don\u2019t, the seagrass gets overgrown, and it smothers the coral and hurts the reefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late March, Lenny made a triumphant return to the waters where he was first found.<\/p>\n

\"RehabbedTHE TURTLE HOSPITAL\/MARATHON TURTLE HOSPITAL<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling,\u201d Zirkelbach said of Lenny\u2019s homecoming.<\/p>\n

Since his release, Papish has crossed paths with Lenny several times, including during a recent encounter in early June.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing better every time I see him. He\u2019s got more strength in his injured flipper, and his swimming is stronger. When he goes up to get air, he gets it with more confidence. He doesn\u2019t struggle like the day we released him\u201d Papish said.<\/p>\n

Mike Papish<\/p>\n

Papish describes Lenny\u2019s personality as curious and a little playful: \u201cEvery time I see him, he comes in and does a lap right under the boat so all the snorkelers can see him, and then he goes back to deeper waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about The Turtle Hospital or donate to help sea turtles like Lenny, visit their website<\/a>.\"Turtle<\/a>Turtle Covered In Barnacles Couldn’t Move \u2014 Now She’s A Glowing ‘Boss’\u201cIt’s been amazing to watch her defy the odds.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Mike Papish, a diver and underwater photographer, first spotted Lenny \u2014 a 322-pound loggerhead sea turtle \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[1718,8736,1716,728,93071,93070,70,87150,1715,1713,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-239284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-animal-encounters","9":"tag-animal-rescue","10":"tag-daily-dodo","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-loggerhead-turtle","13":"tag-marlo-jappen-porto","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-sea-turtle","16":"tag-standard","17":"tag-the-dodo","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114798947791946931","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}