Rare Hawksbill Turtle Recovering at Keys Hospital After Injuries From Isaac

The turtle was flown to Miami on Sunday and brought to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon.

A rare hawksbill turtle found severely injured on the beach in St. Croix after Tropical Storm Isaac was slowly recovering at a turtle hospital in the Florida Keys.

The turtle, named Good Hope, was flown to Miami on Saturday by American Airlines for free and brought to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon. When the turtle was brought to the hospital the prognosis was about 10 percent. Now it’s 50 percent, said Dr. Doug Mader.

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“The cornea, the corner itself. I can see the cornea. I could not see it on Sunday,” Mader said.
Turtle Hospital founder Richie Moretti said the turtle had an estimated 100 eggs and 25 have been accounted for.

Several of the turtle's eggs have been alid and are being incubated with sand from the Good Hope beach where she was found. If the eggs are fertile and hatch, the sand will be "imprinted" and when they mature to adults, the turtles will know which beach to go to for nesting.

"It is very critical. If we are going to have the eggs in the U.S, it has to be in sand from St. Croix," Moretti said. “The day the babies are born they are going to fly them back."

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