State-Journal.com - Marley gets his freedom

Photo By submittalJohn E. Witt, 54, and John D. Witt, 24, both of Frankfort, release Marley, a turtle they helped save, off the coast of South Padre Island, Texas.

Photo By submittalJohn Witt, 24, and John Witt, 79, play with Marley a final time before his release in August.

Photo By submittalMarley is a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and could grow to reach 110 pounds. Marley, who could actually be a she, came within a few hours of death.

Photo By submittalJohn D. Witt, 24, left, John D. Witt, 79, and John E. Witt, 54, pose with Marley hours before they set him free.

Photo By submittalJohn E. Witt, 54, gets splashed by Marley.

Marley, an endangered sea turtle about to die, made a miraculous recovery thanks to three John Witts from Frankfort and a rescue team.

The Witts, who found the stranded turtle in January on South Padre Island, Texas, were invited back to the island to release a healthy Marley in late August.

They quickly accepted the invitation, taking a three-day trip and spending about $1,000.

The trip was well worth it, says John D., 79, a retired engineer for the Kentucky Department of Highways.

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," he says.

His son and grandson agree.

John E., 54, a retired state police trooper, is now a pilot for Comair. John D., 24, is a senior at the University of Kentucky majoring in computer science and engineering.

A storm was brewing on the Gulf of Mexico on the Monday morning of Aug. 25, Marley's release day.

"The original plan was for the Coast Guard to take Marley 20 miles out but only one of us could go and all three of us wanted to participate," says John, 54.
"So a skiff was rented to take us out. It was about a 10-minute ride and we released him a few hundred yards from where we found him.

"The boat was rocking a little and Marley was in a little plastic swimming pool. We picked him up, held him over the side of the boat and dropped him in. He swam away rapidly on the surface for 15 or 20 yards, went under and that was it. He was glad to be free."

Although John, 24, had named the turtle Marley in January, it's still a juvenile 12-15 years old and possibly female. It's impossible to tell the sex until the adult stage.

"We're hoping Marley is a female and has babies," John, 54, says.

First sighting

The two younger Witts had gone for a short vacation in early January to visit John, 79, who was staying on the barrier island for several winter months in a condo.

The three saw the stranded turtle while walking out on a jetty " a break wall for ships coming into port from the Gulf of Mexico.

Waves had slammed the turtle into rocks and jammed it tightly between two boulders. They thought it was dead.

But John, 24, after taking several photos, says, "This turtle doesn't look like it's been here that long." Then John, 54, straddled rocks and reached down in the crevice, placed a hand on the turtle and turned its head gently.
"When I did, his flippers moved slightly," he recalls.

Then John, 24, recalled a building he had seen on their drive earlier in the day " Sea Turtle Rescue Center.

After two emergency phone calls, rescue workers arrived quickly.

Lucy Guillen, a marine biologist and educator for Sea Turtle Inc., carefully took the turtle and put its head on her shoulder and carried it like an infant.
"She was almost moved to tears," John, 54, recalls.

She told them it's a Kemp's ridley, a native of the area and a sub-adult of what was once the most endangered species of sea turtles in the world.

Bringing Marley back
The Witts were invited to follow Guillen to Sea Turtle Inc., a not-for-profit organization that operates the rescue center.

In the emergency room, the Witts watched STI staff members swarm over the turtle, checking for injuries while scrubbing it clean. Marley got poked with steroid, antibiotic and fluids needles.

It was in critical condition, suffering from a "raging bacterial infection and was only an hour or two away from death," said STI curator Jeff George. He didn't expect Marley to live through the night, or the next few nights.

But after receiving numerous heat lamp applications, shots, fluids, blood work and daily love from staff members and visitors, Marley pulled through.

Marley didn't eat on his own for several months and had to be force-fed fresh squid once a week to keep him alive. Medications were put inside the squid making it easy to get antibiotics to fight the infection.

Once he began eating about two months ago, he progressed rapidly and soon began eating everything in sight " 10 to 15 squid every morning.

John, 79, who stayed on the island through the end of March, visited Marley every day, helping with shots, taking pictures and frequently calling his son and grandson with updates.

George said the Witts saved Marley's life and are heroes.

"Marley has made all three of them sea turtle conservationists," George said.
"I became a turtle lover just instantly," John, 54, says. "It's an emotional thing when you see something that's helpless and dying like that. It's crazy that you can become so emotionally attached to something like this."

John, 54, says Marley was a blessing in disguise for his father. "Dad says every time he walks into the rescue center, Marley recognizes him. He says he comes up and opens his mouth and blows bubbles at him."

He says staff members at the rescue center "are the real heroes who saved Marley."

John, 54, adopted Marley, sending Sea Turtle Inc. $30 a month to help pay some of the expenses for food.

The big release
Recalling Marley's release day, John Witt, 79, says when they returned to the rescue center, "I really believe Marley recognized me. It's hard to say for sure but when I tapped on the tank, she came right to me. She knew it was me."

John, 79, got emotional when he saw a healthy Marley swimming in his tank for the first time. He was allowed to give Marley his last meal of squid before returning home in the gulf.

Marley weighed 19 pounds when he arrived at the rescue center and 32 went he left. As adults, Kemp's can weigh as much as 110 pounds.

STI employee Dave Cromwell says the Witts "are incredibly neat people. They now have a definite appreciation for what sea turtles do for ecology in helping us understand the health of our oceans and the lack thereof. Acting very similar to canaries in the mines, sea turtles are our canaries of the ocean.

"Marley, a miraculous turtle, was as close to death as any sea turtle I've seen here that came back to life."

The Witts helped put ID tags on Marley, and a microchip also was implanted before they left the rescue center.

John, 24, says one of the funniest memories was seeing his dad get "really splashed" when he first lifted Marley out of the tank.

He says the whole thing " from finding Marley to witnessing his recovery and release with his dad and grandfather " was a "cool experience."

"If I had experienced this as a college freshman, I would have probably changed my major to marine biology," he says. "But being a senior, there's no chance of me changing now."

In the gulf, there was a joy seeing Marley swimming strongly away from the boat, but an emptiness too as their friend disappeared into deeper water.

"I will sure miss seeing her," says John, 79. "But I wouldn't have it any other way. This is exactly what we had hoped for."

Adopt a turtle
You can adopt a sea turtle " as the Witt family did with Marley " at Sea Turtle Inc. The cost is $30 a month, which pays for human-quality seafood and romaine lettuce. You will receive a photo of a named sea turtle, a short biography, information about sea turtles and Sea Turtle Inc. and a small gift. For more information call 1-956-761-4511 or send an e-mail to Seaturtleinc@yahoo.com.

>Nearly extinct in 1985, the Kemp's ridley sea turtle is coming back slowly due to a joint Mexico/USA nesting beach conservation effort.
>The Kemp's ridley is the smallest of the eight species of sea turtles. Nesting females range from 75 to 100 pounds.

>Healthy Kemp's ridleys have a life expectancy of 50 to 70 years. Green sea turtles can live 150 years.

>The Kemp's ridley was named for Richard M. Kemp, a fisherman who submitted the type specimen from Key West, Fla. in 1906.