On the 123rd anniversary of legendary writer Ernest Hemingway’s birth, about a dozen “Papa Hemingway” look-alikes helped return an endangered loggerhead sea turtle, fittingly nicknamed “Papa,” back to his ocean home Thursday.
Weighing 185 pounds, the reptile had inadvertently become entangled in an angler’s fishing line July 13. The fishing boat’s crew was able to get the turtle alongside and aboard the boat, and the captain radioed the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital whose staff responded to the rescue, as did a U.S. Coast Guard vessel.
Traditionally rescuers are encouraged to name the sea turtle they help save. The angler, looking at the turtle’s large size, immediately dubbed it “Papa.”
After a quick rehabilitation at the Turtle Hospital where the fishing line was untangled and a few other minor treatments were administered, “Papa” was declared healthy and cleared for release back to the wild.
Hundreds of spectators cheered as the human “Papas,” who are in the Keys for Key West’s annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, watched their loggerhead namesake swim away from Marathon’s Sombrero Beach into the Atlantic Ocean.
“It’s the old turtle and the sea,” said David Douglas, the 2009 contest winner. “It’s Hemingway’s birthday today; he’s named Papa, we’re named Papas.”
About 140 Look-Alike Contest entrants are vying for the title of “Papa,” a nickname adopted by the famous author who lived in Key West during the 1930s. The three-round challenge begins tonight and highlights the annual Hemingway Days celebration.
“Papa” the turtle is also entered in a competition. He was fitted with a satellite-tracking transmitter to join the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s annual Tour de Turtles, a marathon-like “race” that follows the long-distance migration of sea turtles over three months.
Online monitoring for participating hard-shell sea turtles begins Aug. 1 at TourDeTurtles.org and ends Oct. 31.
The Florida Keys’ Turtle Hospital has been rescuing, rehabilitating and returning sea turtles to the wild for 35 years.
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