This week I had the opportunity to witness something really special – the release of a rehabilitated sea turtle back into the Gulf of Mexico. This is something I’ve wanted to see for a long time so when I got an email from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium that they were releasing Kreacher, a young loggerhead turtle, from Clearwater Beach, I had to go.
Kreacher was found floating half a mile off of Clearwater Beach on May 8. After being treated at the CMA for gastrointestinal problems, she was well and ready to go back home. Before the release, the CMA partnered with the Sea Turtle Conservancy to attach a satellite tracking device to Kreacher’s shell for research purposes. This was CMA’s second turtle to be fitted with a tracking tag. Ozzy, released last September, traveled all the way up to the Outer Banks of North Carolina before her tag stopped working a few months later.