- September 10, 2024
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Lil’ Dougie was feisty.
As staff from Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium transported the female loggerhead down to the beach on Siesta Key on Aug. 12, Lil’ Dougie was flapping her flippers, ready to return to the Gulf of Mexico after 73 days of rehabilitation.
Lil’ Dougie’s rescue story began on Memorial Day. Doug Johnson, creative communications specialist for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, was out paddleboarding with his wife, Susannah, near Casey Key.
Doug Johnson saw something in the water — a shape that didn’t look like a log or floating debris.
“When I saw this crescent shape in the water, I was like, ‘That doesn’t look right,’” Doug Johnson said. “And it was out in the channel, so I paddled over, and sure enough it was a turtle.”
The turtle appeared injured and was unable to submerge and swim, so Doug Johnson moved the turtle to safety out of the channel until Mote could respond.
When Mote staff arrived, they found the turtle floating and missing part of her front left flipper. The missing part of the flipper was likely due to an interaction with a shark, according to Mote.
She was also showing signs of anemia, lethargy and buoyancy issues. When she was taken to Mote’s facility on Ken Thompson Parkway, the team immediately got to work starting fluids and antibiotics and placed the injured turtle in a shallow rehabilitation pool.
Named Lil’ Dougie after Doug Johnson who rescued her, the turtle improved over the coming weeks at Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital. She began eating well again, accepting food like shrimp and squid.
Throughout her 73-day stay, Lil’ Dougie’s condition steadily improved. Her buoyancy issues were resolved and her injured flipper healed, according to Mote.
As her buoyancy improved in early July, she was given deeper pools to swim in.
At the time of her release, Lil’ Dougie was about 70 kilograms or about 154 pounds. Mote staff said she was in the range of sub-adult to adult, but they aren’t able to tell exactly how old she is.
Before she was released, though, Lil’ Dougie was outfitted with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag. Similar to how microchips work in dogs and cats, the tag will make her identifiable if she’s ever found or encountered again.
On Aug. 12, Doug and Susannah Johnson joined Mote personnel to watch Lil’ Dougie swim off on her own.
“It was amazing,” Doug Johnson said. “She’s feisty. She was ready to go back to the sea for sure.”
“It’s an amazing thing we can do as humans to help in those situations, and it’s very gratifying for sure,” Susannah Johnson. “And they do amazing work at Mote.”
