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Loggerhead turtle's flight delayed again

Bosco keeps trying to head to his new home at the Puerto Rico Zoo, but he keeps getting bumped from his flights: too big, too heavy.

By KATHERINE K. LEE
Published November 24, 2005

CLEARWATER - When a zoo in Puerto Rico called the Clearwater Marine Aquarium asking about acquiring a loggerhead turtle, aquarium officials thought Bosco, a turtle rescued in 2002, would be the perfect fit.

The airline thought otherwise.

On two separate days last week, officials at Clearwater Marine Aquarium tried to transport the 520-pound Bosco to a new home at the Puerto Rico Zoo in San Juan.

Both times, they were turned away at Tampa International Airport when Delta officials decided Bosco and his crate were too big to fly on a narrow-body aircraft, said Dana Zucker, community relations director for Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

The first time, on Nov. 14, Zucker said the crew told her Bosco was 20 pounds over the weight limit.

They brought Bosco back to the aquarium, where she called Delta's pet line and ironed out what she thought was a misunderstanding. The transport was rescheduled for later that week, on Nov. 18.

That day, aquarium officials dropped Bosco off at the airport again for his 7 a.m. flight. Zucker said they had already returned to the aquarium when she got a phone call. This time, she said she was told the crate was an inch too big.

Once again, Bosco came back to the aquarium.

Delta officials said the problem was not that Bosco was too fat, but that the plane was too small.

"It was awkward from a weight standpoint, not only for the employees and the turtle," said Delta spokesman Anthony Black. "He was too big for the safety of the animal and the people carrying or lifting the container."

Black said company rules dictate that Bosco can only fly on a wide-body aircraft in which his crate can be forklifted into the cargo hold, rather than a narrow-body plane in which cargo is loaded by conveyor belt onto the plane.

Using a conveyor belt requires people to maneuver the cargo to fit into the plane's underbody, too risky for the safety of the crew and the animal, he said.

But Delta flies fewer flights on wide-body planes, which are wide enough to have two aisles between seats, rather than just one. Bosco would have had to spend the night in Atlanta.

Black said Delta offered to contact the Atlanta zoo and have a zoo official check on Bosco during his overnight stay, but aquarium officials declined. They didn't want him stuck in a crate that long, he said.

"We don't want to do anything to injure or jeopardize the animal," Black said. "If we can set it up or work with a zoo locally, we will, to get the animal delivered to its ultimate destination."

Bosco was rescued in 2002 after a fishing line injured his front flipper and he was hit by a boat, Zucker said. Because of his injuries, he cannot be released back into the wild.

Zucker disputes that Delta told aquarium officials they needed to book a flight on a bigger plane, but in any case, the turtle will not fly again until at least mid December when the vet deems him once again fit for travel.

Bosco appears healthy and shows no visible signs of trauma from being moved around twice in one week, Zucker said.

"That's really more our concern, that the animal has to be thrown in a crate and taken out of the crate and then thrown back in," she said.

Zucker estimates the total cost of the two failed tries is about $600, which she hopes Delta will reimburse.

She said the aquarium will try again to get Bosco to his new island home - possibly with another airline.

[Last modified November 24, 2005, 00:18:19]