Meet the Permanent Residents of NMLC!

The National Marine Life Center is home to three resident turtles, aside from our usual sea turtle patients.  The three residents include two box turtles, Violet and Daisy, as well a diamondback terrapin named Lindsay.

Daisy and Violet came to us in 2014 after being rescued from an illegal animal situation in New Bedford, MA, where the owner wanted to use them to make animal products for profit.  As box turtles, Daisy and Violet are terrestrial turtles, so they are strictly land turtles.  Daisy and Violet have very different personalities, as Violet is very shy and tends to hide herself under the soil, whereas Daisy is often out in the areas open of their tank and is the more active of the two.  The two enjoy being brought out for walks in the grass on sunny days and actually move a lot faster than you would expect a turtle to go!

Lindsay is our resident diamondback terrapin, a semi-aquatic turtle.  She came to us in mid-2016.  She is a special case because

Lindsay came to us with a partially paralyzed rear-left leg, and a completely paralyzed back right leg.  In addition, her front right leg was amputated due to a prior unknown injury.  Even though we don’t know what happened to her before she came to us, Lindsay is enjoying her home at NMLC.  She has just been moved to her new tank in the Discovery Center, and enjoys the massage provided by the water falling from her filter.

Daisy, Violet, and Lindsay will never be able to be released back into the wild, so they have become ambassadors at NMLC, and can help us teach children the differences between sea, semi-aquatic, and terrestrial turtles.  All three turtles are available for visitors to see in our Discovery Center every day from 10am-5pm.

Posted by Meagan B.

Meagan is a Summer 2017 Animal Care Intern.  She will begin graduate school this fall at University College London, studying Biodiversity, Evolution, and Conservation.