MTI To The Sea Turtle Rescue During New Year’s Fun Run

During events for MTI owners, client relations manager Taylor Scism has any number of predictable, hospitality-centric chores to handle. This weekend, with customers of the Wentzville, Mo., company community together in the Middle Florida Keys for New Year’s Eve, is no exception.

MTI’s Taylor Scism (center) spearheaded the release of Mojo, a 600-pound leatherback sea turtle, in the Gulf Stream today off Marathon, Fla. Photos by Tom Leigh copyright Tommy Gun Images.

But what Scism didn’t expect was coordinating the return of a 600-pound leatherback sea turtle to the Gulf Stream today from Turtle Hospital in Marathon, just a quick ride from Hawk’s Cay Resort, the host venue for this weekend’s New Year’s Eve Fun Run for MTI owners.

Scism learned about the turtle through an Instagram post. Earlier this week, the creature had washed ashore on Miami’s famed South Beach and was too exhausted to make it back offshore. The turtle was transported to the Marathon facility for treatment of minor injuries before its return to the sea.

It took a team effort to get Mojo back where he belonged.

Scism, who knew staff members at the Turtle Hospital from her offshore racing experiences, reached out to see what she could do to help. The plan, she soon learned, was to return the turtle to its natural habitat today.

But there was a problem. The hospital staff didn’t have a vessel that could accommodate a 600-pound animal.

So Scism offered the company’s demo MTI-V 50 center consoles as a sea turtle water-taxi.

Some 30 miles off the coast of Marathon Key, the MTI and Turtle Hospital finished the job. Photo courtesy Carter Bahde/Havasu Media Productions

“It took 10 guys to get it on board,” she said. “We ran 30 miles out into the Gulf Stream and released him. They told me in the 36 years the Turtle Hospital has been there it was the first leatherback turtle they’d ever had.”

Scism paused, then chuckled. “They named him Mojo, which was perfect,” she said, then laughed again. “Because we once built an MTI catamaran called Mojo.”