We are proud to introduce you to our very first Bowen Aquarium resident! McNubbins the green sea turtle was a longtime patient at Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center, a critical-care rehabilitation facility located at our sister campus. Over the two-and-a-half years McNubbins spent as a patient, this special turtle left her mark on several fellow sea turtle patients and veterinary staff, and we can’t wait to bring her back to her permanent home when Bowen Aquarium is built.
McNubbins arrived at the Healing Center in October of 2021 with a missing left front flipper and a partially missing right front flipper, likely an attack from a predator. After intensive care from the Healing Center’s veterinary staff, McNubbins was able to heal, swim, eat and interact with enrichment well.
Unfortunately, with such extensive permanent injuries, it was decided after multiple tests and discussions that she was a non-releasable turtle. While it is the Healing Center’s ultimate goal to return healed turtles to their natural range, with only two fully functioning flippers it was unlikely she would be able to act upon her natural behaviors. Nesting, mating, diving from predators and dealing with the rough conditions that come with ocean living were all concerns.
Once this decision was made for McNubbins’ overall wellbeing, staff began working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under special arrangements to temporarily place McNubbins at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Florida until Bowen Aquarium is up and running.
Through her stay, McNubbins donated blood to other patients to help them survive and thrive. She’s also had a more flippers-on role in helping other nervous sea turtle patients find their bearings under the Healing Center’s care. From teaching other sea turtles what a tasty meal is to how to enjoy their enrichment, McNubbins was there for her fellow patients in many ways. Even the Healing Center staff felt the special, calming presence McNubbins had over the years.
The future Bowen Aquarium will house its own sea turtle rehabilitation facility, the Scaife Family Sea Turtle Care Complex, where we will be able to continue to integral work that the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center began over 10 years ago. And, right alongside, McNubbins will be swimming freely in her permanent home serving as a reminder of why we’re investing in a lifesaving facility for sick and injured sea turtles.
If you’re interested in helping bring McNubbins home faster by funding Bowen Aquarium and Conservation Center, you can find multiple ways to support us here.
