Even the sky seemed to be smiling as a loggerhead sea turtle returned to the ocean after 14 months of rehabilitation.
As she crawled across the beach and slipped under the waves, a rainbow broke out behind the rescuers who’d nursed the turtle back to health.
A crowd of spectators gathered around the group as they released the turtle, named Volusia.
Boaters found her struggling to breathe and keep her head above water in May, 2014. They alerted a turtle rescue group which brought her to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Black Cat Becomes A Nurse, Tending to Every Wounded Animal
Exams showed Volusia had pneumonia and too much air in her body cavity which caused a buoyancy problem. CMA’s turtle team released some of the air and spent more than a year getting her ready for life back in the ocean.
“Everyone was so respectful and I think a few of us had tears or goose bumps as she crawled into the water,” Kathy Doddridge, one of the volunteers for Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch wrote on Facebook.
(WATCH the video from Bradenton Herald) — FB Photo: Kathy Doddridge & Karen Riley-Love, Island Turtle Watch
Send This Rainbow to Turtle Lovers Everywhere… (Share below)
Wonderful job, everyone!