The tale of the turtle named Ian for the hurricane that nearly killed him

KEY WEST, Fla. – Fifteen more lives are finally "back to normal" after Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Florida. They were only babies when the Category 4 storm struck over 6 weeks ago and almost took their lives.

But rescuers nursed them back to health and helped them swim on to restart their lives. Yes, swim. All the survivors were endangered sea turtles. They were released Saturday in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, about 20 miles off of Key West.

"My littles are hatchlings and post-hatchlings, including Ian, the one that was rescued right after the hurricane," said Turtle Hospital Manager Bette Zirkelbach. "We are taking them offshore to the Gulf Stream where we're going to find a nice sargassum weed and give these babies a home where they would normally be found at this late stage."

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The first rescued was aptly named Ian. A family near Key West found the hatchling under a foot of seaweed while cleaning up a boat ramp after the storm. Their little boy named the tiny green turtle after the hurricane. Mom and dad immediately called the Turtle Hospital’s Stranding Hotline.

Hurricane Ian blew endangered baby turtles off course

Little Ian was just the first of many washbacks, victims of the deadly storm. Zirkelbach said the turtle survived hatching on a beach then made his way though the surf past predators to the open ocean. She theorizes that Ian the turtle began eating and headed for a line of Sargassum seaweed 50 to 100 miles offshore. Then Ian the hurricane hit and washed him back onto the beach.

Ian was nearly doomed to die near the beach where he was born. Washback turtles don’t have the energy to return to the Sargassum habitat offshore, according to the University of Florida. They use up all their egg nutrition to swim out the first time.

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Three other rescued green turtles bunked up with Ian at the hospital; Archie, Adele and Righty. Righty is actually luckier than Ian, having cheated death twice. Someone fished him out of a swimming pool in Marathon after the storm. Then vets said it looked like a predator took a nibble out of Righty’s back right flipper about a month before he washed back.

Louis, also missing a flipper, took his freedom swim Saturday too.

"Look at that gorgeous juvenile loggerhead sea turtle. Happy trails, Lewis," Zirkelbach said. "And then we have some loggerhead hatchlings and some very special hawksbill post-hatchlings also came back, washbacks, from the storm."

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Turtles traveled first class

The turtles and Zirkelbach hitched a luxury ride on a speedboat taking part in the Race World Offshore’s Key West World Championship over the weekend. The boat had just place first in the competition the day before.

The Turtle Hospital has a partnership with the offshore race. Zirkelbach said she flies the course in a helicopter before and during each race to make sure sea turtles, manatees and dolphins are not harmed. 

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Godspeed Ian

Swim, Ian swim and hopefully you can eat your way to the 150 to 400 pounds of your ancestors. Green turtles are one of the largest and the only herbivore sea turtle species, according to the World Wildlife Fund.