Hailey Clark, a marine biology student at Florida Atlantic University and a volunteer for the Coastal Stewards, releases Sparrow, a green sea turtle, into the ocean on July 10. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Steve Plunkett
The gift shop at Boca Raton’s Gumbo Limbo Nature Center should reopen “quite soon,” but answers to what will become of the signature sea turtle rehabilitation efforts there remain elusive.
The nonprofit Coastal Stewards, which ran the rehab unit until suddenly deciding to close it and the gift shop it ran June 12, released its final patient, a green sea turtle named Sparrow, into the ocean at Red Reef Park across from the nature center on July 10. The same day, it released one named Blossom in Stuart.
In its July newsletter, the group — previously known as Friends of Gumbo Limbo — said it has shifted away from rehab work and “evolved to focus on youth leadership and coastal conservation programs that protect Florida’s ecosystems today.”
“As we enter a period of transition,” it continued, “the Board of Directors is thoughtfully evaluating the best path forward for the organization and its mission.”
Boca Raton officials were also trying to draw a map to Gumbo Limbo’s future.
“We’re looking at a number of options to, first of all, restore the gift shop, which is very popular,” City Manager George Brown told the City Council on July 15. “We are considering whether or not we should be in the turtle rehab business. We will continue to have turtle people being able to engage with the turtles, but whether or not we run a turtle hospital is something we’re exploring.”
Rehab options
Brown said his staff has been talking with the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach for a possible solution.
“Our concern there is whether or not we want to actually hire them and pay them to operate the facility, whether we want to be in the (rehab) business and be responsible for it,” Brown said.
He said the first conversation “was more of a simple partnership, that they would use the facility and we would have an agreement. And then it seems that they are interested in being a contractor to us. And we are evaluating whether or not we will recommend doing that.
“But we’re definitely working toward the gift shop. We actually have a couple of options for that, and it should be open quite soon,” Brown said.
Mayor Scott Singer was pleased that staff was looking at maintaining the rehab facilities.
“That is an important component of what we have there at Gumbo Limbo,” he said.
The day before, Commissioner Craig Ehrnst of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District implored council members to issue a request for proposals to see whether other groups would like to run the sea turtle hospital. The Beach and Park District reimburses the city for operating expenses and capital improvements at Gumbo Limbo and Red Reef Park.
“It is one of our world-class jewels that we have, a top thing for Trip Advisor,” Ehrnst said. “We need all the things that it has.”
Clearing out
Meanwhile, the Coastal Stewards van is parked on the grass in front of the nature center “so we can use it to help move equipment and it will be moved as soon as the board decides the plan moving forward,” said Melissa Perlman, the group’s spokeswoman.
“The Coastal Stewards are working on donating medical equipment to several nonprofit sea turtle/wildlife rescue organizations based on each of their needs and the equipment the team can provide them with,” Perlman said. “According to (its veterinarian Shelby) Loos, that way we know the equipment will continue to directly help with conservation missions.”
Perlman also said over the next couple of weeks the Stewards will continue to pack and help move everything as those organizations come to pick up their donations.
The nonprofit Coastal Stewards group had run the rehab unit and gift shop since April 2024, but declining contributions and increased competition for donations led its trustees to curtail operations at their June 12 meeting.
That decision came after the Coastal Stewards in April vacated rented office space in an unincorporated county pocket between Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.
The closure of the rehabilitation center did not affect the three “resident” sea turtles housed in outdoor tanks at Gumbo Limbo, which remain on display and available for public viewing. Also still open are the city-run turtle nesting and hatchling programs, youth camps and community education, the butterfly garden, boardwalk and observation tower.
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