4 Photos
COURTESY JOHN WOBENSMITH Gracie (left) and Ella Wobensmith with Karen Testa, owner of Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, holding Lilly, the rehabilitated diamondback terrapin.
COURTESY JOHN WOBENSMITH Lilly, the rescued diamondback terrapin, at Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons before her release.
COURTESY JOHN WOBENSMITH Gracie (left), Ella (middle) and John Wobensmith (left) follow Lilly the turtle into the water during her release.
COURTESY JOHN WOBENSMITH Ella (left) and Gracie (right) releasing Lilly the turtle in Noyak Creek.
In August 2018, Ella and Gracie Wobensmith found an injured turtle on the beach near their home in Sag Harbor. Now, after four years at Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, the turtle has been released back into the wild, and the Wobensmith girls were the ones who set it free.
When the girls found the turtle, it had a cracked shell. After noticing that the turtle, a diamondback terrapin who they named Lilly, was bleeding, they ran to get their dad, John.
Gracie, 9, named the turtle Lilly because “she reminded me of a lily pad.”
Diamondback terrapins are an aquatic turtle native to Long Island and are considered a vulnerable species in New York.
John Wobensmith wrapped the turtle in a towel and called Turtle Rescue of the Hampton in Jamesport.
Lilly was brought in with a boat propeller injury. She had multiple fractures on her top shell, a broken back femur, lacerations on her belly shell and a punctured lung.
Karen Testa, the executive director of Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, initially worked to stabilize Lilly — giving her oxygen, hydrating her and putting her on antibiotics.
Turtles are slow. That’s why Lilly’s recovery took so long, according to Testa. “They die slow and they heal slowly. Everything they do is slow,” she said, adding that the rescue has another turtle that has been there for six years.
Additionally, because of the temperatures in New York, the rescue only has a six-month window to release rehabilitated turtles.
Once Lilly was fully rehabilitated, Testa invited the Wobensmith family to do the release of Lilly themselves. They went to Jamesport to pick Lilly up on July 5 and brought her home to release her into Noyack Creek by Clam Island.
“Both my wife and I are big animal lovers,” John Wobensmith said. “Just like my parents, you want to teach your kids to have empathy toward not just people, but animals.”
Before releasing Lilly, the girls took a tour of the rescue hospital and were able to learn about how boat propeller injuries are treated.
“It taught me to always take care of animals,” said Ella, 12. “You can save a life.”
The girls were able to take Lilly into the water and watch her swim away, making their father very proud.
Lilly was pregnant before her release. She has six eggs that were left behind at the rescue. Once they hatch, they will also be released in front of the Wobensmith house into Noyack Creek.
Julia Heming on Jul 7, 2022