Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC)

In 2023, Loggerhead Marinelife Center admitted 2,593 sea turtles representing all 5 species found in the u.s. atlantic ocean (kemp's ridley, Loggerhead, green, hawksbill, and leatherback) into the hospital. There were 2,380 hatchlings & post-hatchlings, and 213 juveniles or larger. We released 1,867 turtles after rehabilitation. So, survival rate overall was 72%, but if the care team was able to get the animals through the first critical 24 hour period, that rate jumped to >95%.

Over 95,000 individuals participated in one of the 25 stem education programs which included the junior marine biologist summer camp and national and state academic standard-aligned student field trips and guided programs for adults and families. Loggerhead Marinelife Center engaged nearly 27,000 learners through student-led ocean conservation initiatives locally and nationally.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center monitors 9.5 miles of beach, which serves as a critically important nesting habitat for endangered sea turtles. The research department reported 25,025 sea turtle nests and 42,387 non-nesting emergences in 2023. Approximately 1.1 million hatchlings were produced on the beach during the 2023 nesting season. The research department tagged and identified 215 individual nesting sea turtles on local beaches.