A team from Sea World
and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission releases two rehabilitated turtles.
For fans of “Finding Nemo’s” easy-going, smooth-talking Eastern Pacific green sea turtle, here’s a story to crush on: Rescuers reintroduced two rehabilitated turtles to the ocean Wednesday morning.
A team from SeaWorld and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released the loggerheads at Pineda Beach Park in Satellite Beach, according to a statement.
The first turtle, a juvenile saved in December 2016, had an injured flipper and low temperature.
Through SeaWorld, it received antibiotics, laser therapy and radiograph imaging, the theme park said.
The second flippered patient — a “sub-adult” — was discovered “covered in barnacles, emaciated and lethargic” in Port Canaveral in March, the park said. After veterinary workers cleared seashells from its digestive system, the turtle gained 28 pounds.
Since the beginning of the year, SeaWorld has released 14 sea turtles into the wild, officials said. During the past 37 years, the park has collaborated with the fish and wildlife commission to save almost 2,000 turtles.
Loggerhead-lovers hoping to experience a release firsthand should head Friday to Ponce Inlet. About 12:30 p.m., the Marine Science Center will release Whitney, a turtle rescued in April, near the Beach Street Ramp.
The public can also tour the center’s turtle hospital, open Tuesday through Sunday.
Male loggerhead sea turtles grow to about 250 pounds with three-foot-long shells, according to National Geographic.
Mostly carnivorous, they can live for over 50 years.
Though there are more loggerheads in the U.S. than any other kind of sea turtle, the species is considered “at high risk of extinction in the wild” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Encounter a stranded sea creature during your summer beach vacation? Call FWC at 888-404-3922 or *FWC.