Gulf Specimen Marine Labs

We wanted to share an update on our beloved resident loggerhead sea turtle, Lil Herc.

We recently received the results from her CT scan, and it revealed that she has a bladder stone. This condition is uncommon in sea turtles, and because of their hard plastron (the underside of their shell), removing bladder stones can be especially challenging.

Our team is continuing to run additional diagnostic tests as we work to determine the safest and most effective treatment for her. At Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, we are committed to providing top-notch care to all of the animals in our facility. We're working closely with our vet and consulting with other sea turtle veterinary experts to ensure Lil Herc gets everything she needs.

If you’d like to help support the ongoing cost of her diagnostics and care, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Every contribution makes a difference in her journey to healing.

Your donations don’t just help Lil Herc—they also help fund our rapidly growing Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehab Program. This year, we've had a record number of sea turtles rescued, and the need for blood tests, medications, transportation, and medical care has never been greater. Every contribution makes a real difference for turtles like Lil Herc and many others who need our help.

Thank you for keeping Lil Herc in your hearts—we’ll keep you posted on her progress!

#SeaTurtleStrong #LilHerc #GulfSpecimen #MarineLifeRescue #LoggerheadLove

Since 2017, Lil Herc has been a beloved resident at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, capturing the hearts of visitors with her resilience and charm. As a totally blind and unreleasable sea turtle, she relies on our dedicated team to ensure she receives the best possible care.

Recently, we've noticed a concerning change—Lil Herc's appetite has decreased over the past few weeks. An X-ray revealed an anomaly, but to get a clearer picture and determine the next steps for her health, she urgently needs a CT scan. The cost of this scan is $900, and we need your help to make it happen.

At Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, our team works tirelessly to provide the highest standard of care for every sea turtle that comes through our doors. Your support ensures that Lil Herc gets the medical attention she needs to continue thriving in her forever home.

Every donation, big or small, makes a difference. Please consider contributing and sharing this fundraiser to help us reach our goal. Together, we can give Lil Herc the care she deserves!

Donate today and be a hero for Lil Herc!

Join Us in Supporting Aggie’s Journey to Recovery!

We're excited to announce a special fundraiser for Aggie, a sea turtle who was rescued after washing ashore in the aftermath of Hurricane Debbie. After x-rays, we discovered that she’s battling pneumonia and has a dislocated shoulder, which sadly prevents her from returning to the wild until she is all healed. For now, Aggie calls our rehabilitation center home, where she receives daily, dedicated care to help her thrive.

Our Goal: $1,500

Recovery from pneumonia is a slow, demanding process, especially for sea turtles, and your support is crucial. Each donation will directly fund Aggie’s ongoing care, including:

Medical Treatments: Aggie needs rounds of shots every few days, each costing about $50, to combat her pneumonia.

Specialized Nutrition: A carefully balanced diet ensures she receives essential nutrients to support her recovery.

Every contribution brings Aggie one step closer to a healthy, comfortable life in our care. Thank you for helping us make her recovery possible!

In 1964, with a dream and no money, Jack Rudloe moved into an old World War II army barracks with a leaky roof and a wood stove in the remote fishing village of Panacea, Florida. As he started Gulf Specimen Marine Lab this was his house, his lab, his writing office and aquarium all crammed together. It was there that he wrote his first book, “The Sea Brings Forth”. As the business grew and evolved into an environmental education center, we kept patching that building together. It is still used as the office and gift shop for the aquarium.

When Cypress Rudloe took over the management over twelve years ago, he carried on the tradition of stretching our limited funds by patching and re-patching that same World War II army barracks that came from Camp Gordon Johnson in 1949. But we can patch no more. To continue our insurance coverage we are required to have the roof totally replaced by a licensed roofer, which will cost $30,000.

Over the past sixty years hurricanes and tropical storms have been hard on our facilities. The “Living Dock” has been smashed and replaced three times with FEMA funds. Without insurance, FEMA will no longer allow us to make claims. With rising sea levels, climate change, and catastrophic hurricanes pounding our coast, complying with insurance regulations is vital and mandatory.

Unfortunately, to comply with our insurance, we will also need to remove the water oak next to the gift shop. We love trees at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and hate to see this beautiful tree be destroyed, but we are going to make lemonade out of lemons by turning this tree into oysters. Jack Rudloe, our founder, has worked for years to bring the concept of oysters on trees to the general public. In the 1920's the Apalachicola oyster fishery was a flourishing fishing industry and one of the techniques used to keep it going was to plant trees to create a substrate for baby oysters to settle on in the bays. Gulf Specimen has been doing this on our living dock facility for 10 years with great success. To honor this tree's life, we will be making Japanese-style oyster stringers from the wood that we will hang off our living dock into Dickerson Bay as a habitat for oysters and other fouling organisms. For a donation of $75, you can help contribute to the construction of one of these stringers.

Gulf Specimen is a special place where visitors enjoy learning about marine life in a hands-on environment, picking up crabs, and holding hands with octopuses. For three generations visitors of all ages have been coming to GSML and helping support the lab with memberships and contributions. We expanded our facilities to include a new classroom, with AmeriCorps members helping with our thousands of excited school children on field trips that come from 250 regional schools. Each year we continue to add new displays. With AmeriCorps’s help and a grant from Florida’s Department of Cultural Affairs, we built a really fun Picklearium glow room that displays preserved deep sea creatures.

Please help us replace our roof.