Tristen Cortez South Padre Island – Sea Turtle Inc., one of South Padre Island’s biggest tourist hot-spots, provided an update on the upcoming largest sea turtle hospital in the world being built at the organization’s facility.
The organization currently houses sea turtles unable to live in the wild and nurses sea turtles found stranded around the island back to health.
Wendy Knight, CEO of Sea Turtle Inc., said the hospital will serve to remedy the environmental and human-driven dangers that sea turtles face.
“Usually they are something that wasn’t food that was left in the water, meaning fishing debris, plastics, things that people have abandoned,” Knight said.
Knight also iterated that the hospital is intended to be a global hub for sea turtle research and collaboration efforts fueled by people who visit the location to learn about protecting the many species of sea turtles.
Christopher Gabler, an Associate Professor of Plant Ecology and Sustainability at UTRGV, said that with areas containing large human populations, such as coastlines, it is important to help preserve local animal populations as well.
“With animals, you know mammals, reptilians,” Gabler said, “there is a direct biological necessity at the core of what we see when we impact the environment.”
The hospital is set for completion this May and will officially open in the summer.
