Videos of the weirdest and wildest pets
Oct 28, 2009 11:03 am US/Eastern
Sea Turtle Released After Flight Home To St. Croix
MARATHON (CBS4) ―
-
-
Staffers at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon work with Sandy, an endangered Hawksbill sea turtle that was brought to them from St. Croix, where it had been badly wounded by dogs
Florida Keys News Bureau
"Sandy" the rehabilitated hawksbill sea turtle, who came to South Florida for medical care at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital, has been released off a Virgin Islands beach about 100 yards from where she was attacked by wild dogs almost a year ago.
Sandy, a mature nesting female, was flown back to St. Croix Tuesday afternoon in the cargo hold of an American Airlines jet from Miami. Two Turtle Hospital officials were on the flight and assisted in Tuesday's release at the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in St. Croix.
About 100 spectators, including a group of high school students, cheered after the turtle was placed in the ocean and quickly swam away.
Even though a veterinarian had to amputate Sandy's front right flipper and removed a small section of the front left, officials from the Marathon hospital are confident the turtle can survive and nest again. They said every animal counts, because hawksbills are critically endangered.
"When turtles are endangered as Sandy is, each turtle becomes significant, inasmuch as the eggs she's carrying - there's thousands of eggs." said Richie Moretti, the hospital's founder and director. "And when an animal becomes endangered we look at this animal as it might make the difference whether future generations get to see hawksbills like Sandy."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Lovely Ladies From All Walks Of Life
Web Extra: Meet The Two Nosed Calf
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
