A determined young Florida Keys “resident” is participating in the Tour de Turtles, the sea turtle equivalent of television’s “The Amazing Race.” And while the challenge isn’t televised like its human-starring counterpart, you can still follow her progress as she competes.
Roseleigh, a juvenile green sea turtle fitted with a satellite-tracking transmitter, awaits release back to the Atlantic Ocean to participate in the Tour de Turtles. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)
Her name is Roseleigh, and she’s a juvenile green sea turtle who was found floating off Islamorada in March 2024 and quickly transported to the Keys’ Turtle Hospital for care.
There, she was treated for a severe case of fibropapillomatosis, a deadly tumor-causing disease that may be linked to pollution in the oceans and nearshore waters.
After a series of successful surgeries and treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, fluids, vitamins and a healthy diet of greens and mixed seafood, Roseleigh was back in good health and swimming strongly.
She had recovered so well, in fact, that recently she was fitted with a satellite-tracking transmitter and released from a Keys beach to join the 17th annual Tour de Turtles.
Organized by the Sea Turtle Conservancy, the marathon-like “race” follows the long-distance migration of sea turtles over three months. The educational outreach program was created to raise awareness about sea turtles and threats to their survival, and each participant swims for a cause. Roseleigh’s cause, quite appropriately, is water quality.
Cindy Wright, left, cheers as she watches Roseleigh’s release off the Florida Keys’ Sombrero Beach. Cindy and her husband discovered Roseleigh in distress, leading to the turtle’s treatment and recovery at Marathon’s Turtle Hospital. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)
Like contestants in “The Amazing Race,” Roseleigh has passionate fans — but none are more dedicated than Cindy Wright and her husband Bosley, who discovered her in trouble last March and set her rescue in motion.
Cindy Wright, a University of Maryland journalism professor who splits time between the Keys and the Baltimore region, described the turtle’s condition when found as extremely dire.
“She was in critical condition, bleeding from her right flipper, just covered — the tumors covered her eyes, covered her shoulders — it was so invasive,” she said.
When the Wrights discovered Roseleigh’s treatment had succeeded so well, and that she was being released, they were determined to witness the event. So determined, in fact, that they cut short a vacation and hurried back to the Keys from halfway around the world.
On Aug. 2, they joined hundreds of other spectators at Sombrero Beach in Marathon, cheering and applauding when Roseleigh swam away into the Atlantic Ocean.
“We just returned from Africa specifically to see Roseleigh released,” said Cindy Wright, who was clearly fighting back tears. “We thought she was going to die when we dashed her to the Turtle Hospital and to see her now, all recovered, is just amazing.”
Marathon is home to the world-renowned Turtle Hospital where “patients” like the female green sea turtle shown here are treated and nurtured. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)
Success stories like Roseleigh’s aren’t uncommon at the Turtle Hospital. Located at mile marker 48.5 bayside in Marathon, the facility opened in 1986 as the world’s first state-licensed veterinary hospital dedicated to the treatment of sea turtles.
Founder Richie Moretti, hospital manager Bette Zirkelbach, a skilled staff and a complement of capable volunteers treat injured sea turtles and, whenever possible, return them to the wild.
If release isn’t feasible, the creatures become permanent residents of the facility.
The hospital treats turtles for various ailments including trap entanglement, boat strikes and digestive impactions as well as fibropapillomatosis. It even has a small fleet of turtle ambulances for patient transport.
As well as being good news for Roseleigh and for the Turtle Hospital, the young reptile’s successful recovery and release could have positive implications for her entire species.
“Roseleigh being a girl turtle has the capacity to lay hundreds, if not thousands, of eggs and help up the population of the endangered green turtles,” Cindy Wright said. “So that makes her even more special.”
If you want to monitor Roseleigh’s progress — and that of nine other hard-shell turtles that were released to participate in the Tour de Turtles — check it out here through Oct. 31. For the planet’s sea turtle fans, it’s guaranteed to be even better than “The Amazing Race.”
