Following months of rehabilitation, the SeaWorld Animal Rescue Team returned two juvenile, green sea turtles to Wabasso Beach and Trident Basin, Florida. Both sea turtles were rescued in September 2014 by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The first sea turtle was found with a hook through the left side of its face at Orchid Island, City of Vero Beach Florida. Radiographs later revealed a second hook lodged inside the turtle’s esophagus. The SeaWorld Veterinarian Team successfully removed both hooks and treated the turtle with antibiotics. Since its arrival, the sea turtle gained 1.3kg (just over a bag of sugar), weighing 5.4kg at the time of return. The sea turtle also grew almost an inch to measure more than 33cm long.
The second sea turtle arrived with a wound to its carapace (shell) that was partially healed. The sea turtle received a full veterinary exam, radiographs and antibiotics, and the team debrided the wound with honey – which removes old, dead tissue to help eliminate infection and speed up the healing process. Since arriving at SeaWorld for rehabilitation, this sea turtle nearly doubled its weight (arrived at more than 2.2kg and weighed almost 5.5kg at time of return) and grew over 2.5cm to more than 30cm.
For more than 45 years, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has helped animals in need -- ill, injured and orphaned. More than 25,000 animals have been rescued by our experts. Our animal rescue team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
So far this year the SeaWorld Orlando Animal Rescue Team has rescued three sea turtles and returned two back to their natural environment.
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