“Ambassador tanks outside of the hospital wards maintain non-release-able, but healthy turtles that visitors will be able to see often and up close,” A&M said.
GALVESTON, Texas — Texas A&M University at Galveston is planning to bring a new sea turtle rehabilitation hospital and educational outreach facility to the island.
The school anticipates breaking ground on the Cheryl Mellenthin Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital and Educational Outreach Center in December of this year, with work expected to be completed by May, 2028.
The university said the new facility comes as the operations at its current temporary hospital facility have outgrown the space.
“The existing facility — a pre-engineered metal structure of about 1,700 gross square feet — met an immediate need to stage, respond, and treat animals,” the school said. “For long-term intervention and care, the facility is not ideal for treatment.”
The new facility will be much larger, sitting at an estimated 11,733 gross square feet.
“The goal is to construct a rehabilitation facility with two separate biological life support systems that would enable a single hospital to rehabilitate sea turtles that are both negative and positive for the FP (Fibropapillomatosis, a tumor disease of sea turtles) virus,” the school said.
According to the university, the sea turtles will also serve as “ambassadors” to teach visitors about the marine environment of Galveston Bay and the Gulf.
“Ambassador tanks outside of the hospital wards maintain non-release-able, but healthy turtles that visitors will be able to see often and up close,” the university said. “This will be the only place to do so on the upper Texas coast to view sea turtles.”
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