Florida Aquarium opens Sea Turtle Rehab Center

Several years back, the Florida Aquarium’s leadership team decided they had to do more to protect the state’s iconic but endangered sea turtles.

That commitment became reality last week when the Channel District-based aquarium in downtown Tampa officially opened a $4.1 million, 19,000-square-foot Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center at its growing campus in Apollo Beach in south Hillsborough County.

The two-story, open-air facility includes five rehabilitation pools that range in size from 1,500 to 25,000 gallons of water. An 11-foot-deep sea turtle dive pool will help Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officials determine if injured and ill turtles are well enough to return to the wild.