Each year, Clearwater Marine Aquarium hosts a “Trash to Toys” competition to celebrate Earth Day and encourage recycling. 35 competing classrooms at Hillsborough and Pinellas County elementary schools designed environmental enrichment devices for Winter, Hope and Nicholas, the rescued dolphins at CMA.
Tortoises and turtle have become popular pets, but it is important to remember that many of these species are exotic wild animals that require special care and do not belong in local ecosystems where they are not natively found.
Since January 3, we have had over 70 live sea turtle intakes from Pinellas and the surrounding counties due to cold weather effects. In most of the cases, these sea turtles were already compromised with viruses, boat strikes and buoyancy issues. Low water temperatures and high winds can cause already sick sea turtles to become even more lethargic, and many have been found floating causing this influx of intakes to our facility.
