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Animal Specialty & Emergency Center of Brevard

Teamwork in Action: Caring for Leia the Sea Turtle

Caring for Leia the Sea Turtle

This week, we had the privilege of lending a hand (or should we say flipper?) to a very special patient—Leia, a juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, one of the most critically endangered sea turtles in the world!

Leia was brought to the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center by the Sea Turtle Preservation Society after being found on Cocoa Beach. When the Brevard Zoo team discovered a large abscess on her head, they reached out to us for help with more detailed imaging.

Enter our dental x-ray machine! Our own Dr. Monica Morgado and certified veterinary technician Jaime Springer were thrilled to assist. With a soft spot for sea turtles, Dr. Morgado used our specialized dental x-ray equipment to get an up-close look at Leia’s head, helping the Brevard Zoo’s Dr. Trevor Zachariah determine the next steps in Leia’s treatment.

Thanks to the incredible teamwork between the Brevard Zoo, Sea Turtle Preservation Society, and our team here at ASEC, Leia is on antibiotics and receiving daily care while we wait for test results.

We’re so proud to be part of this community effort to help Leia on her journey to recovery and, hopefully, back to the wild where she belongs.