A hospital for turtles
The turtles at this waterfront hospital have been hit by boat propellers, caught in fishing nets, attacked by sharks, stricken with tumours and lost flippers.
Most injured turtles are never spotted and die at sea. The fortunate ones are brought to The Turtle Hospital - a converted strip club where workers graft the waterproof fabric Gore-Tex to patch badly injured shells and find other innovative ways to save lives. On this particular day, a 13-pound (6-kilogram) green sea turtle named Fin is being treated for a potentially debilitating tumour.
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"He's got a new life now," says Dr. Doug Mader, the center's chief veterinarian.
Image: Marine biology student Micah Rogers tends to two sea turtlesafter they had operations to remove tumours on July 7, 2009 at TheTurtle Hospitla in Marathon, Fla.
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