Day 174 Marathon

Turtle Hospital




A large Loggerhead Turtle recovering from bubble butt (air that makes them float)


Shells from a Leatherhead and a Loggerhead






A Green Turtle in recovery from flipper amputation

Thursday was warm enough to have lunch on a beautiful beach at Tranquility Bay Resort. After lunch I went to the Turtle Hospital where they had three surgeries going. The little guy in the picture had a flipper amputated and was still groggy from the anesthetic. Turtles can survive back in the wild with only three remaining flippers. The first shell in the picture is from a leatherhead whose main diet is jellyfish and who often mistakes plastic bags for food and then ends up sick. They say their weight can be from 700-2000# and 4-8 feet in length. Turtles also suffer from the cold water temperature and can get infections and not survive. This was a very educational and interesting tour.

The population of Marathon is 10,255 with a land area of 10.19 sq miles; 14 miles long which includes several keys. The name Marathon was derived from the enormous task the Flagler construction crew faced building a bridge across seven miles of open water. This is one of the longest segmental bridges in the world and is the center of the 113 miles of the Overseas Highway which connects the mainland with the keys. Because Marathon is located half way between the start of the keys at Key Largo and the end Key West, it is sometimes known as the Middle Key. With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, you have a large variety of fish to catch yourself or buy from several local fisheries. There are numerous excellent restaurants to choose from for dinning.

Marathon has a large airport for private and smaller charter jet/prop planes. Air Tran Airlines has just started service into Key West. Enterprise, Avis & Budget car rental are located at the airport and or taxis are $5.00 anywhere in Marathon, one way. A bike path is available from one end of town to the other.

There is one movie theater and one live community theatre on the island.
It has the only state-certified veterinary hospital in the world for sea turtles. There is also an educational Dolphin Research Center located here.