Outsiders love a good turtle rescue. Recently, Seaworld, with the help of other rehabilitative organizations, just obliged us with the most wholesome video. A recent tweet captures the release of a loggerhead turtle back into the Pacific Ocean following months of extensive rehabilitation.
Now healthy and ready to go back to the wild, she was released into the ocean off the San Diego coast. A satellite tracker will help researchers keep tabs on her whereabouts.
— U.S. Fish and Wildlife (@USFWS) September 14, 2021
Video of a loggerhead sea turtle being released into the ocean courtesy of SeaWorld San Diego pic.twitter.com/3jhA1CgeJZ
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Tweet, the female loggerhead turtle was rescued earlier this year by dedicated staff at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.”
The staff first stabilized the creature before volunteers at Turtles Fly Too relocated her to Seaworld in San Diego. There she underwent extensive treatment and rehabilitation. The post stated the turtle received treatment for pneumonia during her stay.
The video captures the release of the loggerhead turtle back into the ocean off the San Diego coast. Thanks to staff at the center, the turtle’s progress and location remains available via a satellite tracker.
The wholesome video shows Seaworld staff’s release of the large female loggerhead. As rescuers aid in her release, she begins flapping her flippers in preparation for her dive back into the ocean. Once in the water, she happily swims away, eager to return to her life pre-rehab.
Two-Headed Turtle Sees Ocean Freedom
A rehabilitated turtle rescue-turned-release is always wholesome to watch. However, a baby sea turtle on the East Coast sporting two heads captured the attention of the Internet last month.
As baby sea turtles hatched in Cape Hatteras, NC, one rare find found itself at the bottom of a nest. The park serves as a sanctuary for the threatened creatures. Authorities stated they found the funky turtle during excavations of one of the park’s sea turtle nests.
Surrounding questions about the two-header turtle’s condition, the park stated, “This particular hatchling was released in the ocean along with the others found at the bottom of the nest.”
Additionally, despite the deformity, officials further shared that, “Park biologists identified it had good flipper function and was exhibiting overall good health.”
Interestingly, two-headed animals overall occur more commonly than we might believe. The result comes from a genetic mutation, obviously, in which an embryo doesn’t entirely split. In essence, a full split would signify identical twins. However, incomplete splitting, which happens to be the case for our two-headed turtle, results in conjoined twins.
Dr. Justin Adams of Manash University said, however, “only a small number of conjoined twins have two heads and one body.”
At least, this is the case for humans.
Another interesting fact is that mammals are a lot less likely to produce two-headed offspring than reptiles. But I’ll let you explore that more here.
