It’s morning at the Carpenter House on Hollywood Beach, and a sea turtle eagerly swims the length of the pool downstairs as the handlers prepare her food. As she darts back and forth, her back pushes through the water at an awkward angle: the result of a life-altering injury.
“She has long, long standing issues with her injuries, so she was deemed unreleasable,” says property director Carmen Rodriguez. “Thankfully she found her forever home here.”
Captain is the house’s unofficial mascot. She’s lived there since 2017. A crack in her shell from a boat propeller left air bubbling underneath, making diving impossible. In response, volunteers outfitted her with a weight attached to her shell.
“We’re privileged to be able to give her this care she wouldn’t receive otherwise,” says Rodriguez. “Without it she wouldn’t survive.”
Thousands of visitors stop by this marine center and sanctuary for sea turtles to learn about South Florida’s history, explore indoor and outdoor conservation exhibits, connect with the animal residents and participate in educational programs, workshops and special events. It’s open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. just South of Hollywood Beach, where many of Broward County’s 3,000 turtle nests are concentrated.
Six turtles, including Captain, have been residents.
“At the center, we focus on the sea turtles [that] cannot be re-released just because of the injuries that they’ve had while being out in the wild,” says Melanie Cardenas, the animal care and volunteer manager.
Captain is more than just the Carpenter House mascot. She is a reminder of both the dangers sea turtles face, and their resilience.
Of the seven species of sea turtles worldwide, five are globally classified as threatened or endangered. Sea turtle populations are affected by a variety of threats, including boat collisions, plastic pollution, entanglement in fishing equipment and coastal habitat destruction.
Despite these challenges, conservation efforts have made a great impact. Efforts to safeguard nesting sites and rehabilitate injured turtles have contributed to an increase in population for several species.
Specifically, green turtles have shown notable recovery through sustained conservation work. Green turtles nesting in the state of Florida have skyrocketed from around 4,000 in the 80s to more than 20,000 in the 2010s.
“We want to teach our visitors that the turtles are coming, and they’re laying their eggs,” says Rodriguez. “So we need to keep our distance and we need to keep the beach dark, flat and clean. It’s part of the lessons people learn when they walk away from here.”
The house was originally built in 1941 then bought in the 1950s by Henry Carpenter, who would become known for his environmentalism and community service. It was passed to Broward County by the family after the death of Henry’s wife June in 2003. Renovations began in 2009.
The Marine Environmental Education Center opened in 2017 as a partnership between Broward County Parks and Recreation and Nova Southeastern University.
“It sits right on the beach, so a lot of effort was put into preserving it,” says Rodriguez. “Especially since a lot of this area has been built over the years.”
This collaboration allows county officials and university researchers to create a better program for visitors to explore marine science.
“I knew that when I was going to school, I wanted to be a part of something bigger, a lot bigger than myself,” says Cardenas. “I knew that working at a center that focuses on conservation and educating the public was something that I wanted to do.”
Now equipped with a modern life-support system, the pool is home to both Captain and Cane, a loggerhead that joined the center in 2024 after being found with extensive injuries from a suspected shark attack. She lost 60% of both front flippers and has scarring around her right eye.
Story by Naomi Camejo and Mathilda Wolfe. Video contributions by Luner Moye and Ana Ramirez.
