Crowd Erupts With Cheers After 200-Pound Loggerhead Sea Turtle Is Released in Florida
Rescuing animals is a passion for many people and helps save thousands of lives each year. Some animals are put up for adoption while other animals are rehabilitated and sent back home into the wild where they've lived their entire lives. ABC News shared a heartwarming video on Tuesday, January 30th of a loggerhead turtle being released into the Atlantic Ocean as a crowd cheered it on. Their excitement is contagious!
There weren't many details about what the 200-pound turtle was rescued from or why it needed to be rescued in the first place. The U.S. Coast Guard and others rescued it, and after some time they released it on a beach shore in Marathon, Florida. As the turtle made its way back home, a group of excited onlookers stood by, cheering it on.
I'm sure that the loggerhead turtle wanted to go home! It didn't waste any time making its way back into the ocean. I really wanted to know the story behind this turtle's rescue, so I did some digging to learn more about how the sea turtle ended up in need of care.
Related: Carpooling Galapagos Sea Turtle Catches a Ride With a Friend in Cute Video
More of the Sea Turtle's Story
Turns out, the turtle was rescued after a group of boaters found her tangled in a lobster buoy line. The woman who found her was named Ida, so the rescuers decided to call the turtle by the same name.
After the Coast Guard rescued her from the fishing line, she needed medical care and was transported to The Turtle Hospital. The Turtle Hospital has been around for almost 40 years and caters to treating and rehabilitating injured sea turtles...they even have sea turtle "ambulances" to transport their patients in! Ida wounds were treated, and she received antibiotics, fluids, vitamins, and an anti-inflammatory. A few days later, her release occurred. What a cool story that the rescuers have to share!
Loggerheads are found in oceans around the world (except the coldest ones), and most sea turtles found in the U.S. are loggerheads. Females nest every two to three years, and travel thousands of miles to go home to the beach where they were hatched as a baby to lay her own eggs. I thought that was a pretty incredible fact! The babies hatch 60 days later and head to the ocean.
These sea turtles are one of the largest in the world and can grow up to 4 feet long and weigh between 150 and 400 pounds...they are big turtles! They get their name from - you guessed it - their heads, which are very large, and some say resemble a log. Florida seems to rescue and rehabilitate a lot of them, which explains why there would be a turtle hospital there. It was such a joy to watch Ida's return to the wild; I'm glad that @ABC News shared the story!
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