Photos: Loggerhead sea turtles get new lease on life

By:

Catie Leary

Wed, Mar 14 2012 at 11:22 AM

Related Topics:

Endangered Species, Oceans, Big Snapshot

A crowd observes one of two endangered loggerhead sea turtles making its way across the sandy beach into the water at the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on March 13 in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Hitting the waves

A crowd observes one of two endangered loggerhead sea turtles make its way across the sandy beach into the water on March 13 at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Fla.

The pair of 10-year-old turtles, named Eve and Grinch, underwent rehabilitation at the Miami Seaquarium after being found sick and covered in barnacles and parasites about two months ago.

"They were so weak and not able to swim and they could barely lift their heads up to breathe," said Jodi Tuzinski of the Miami Seaquarium's Turtle Rescue and Rehab Program.

* * *

Mariana Rubinstein from the Miami Seaquarium Spring Break Campers group holds a sign wishing Eve and Grinch good luck as the turtles are prepared for their release back into the wild at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Fla. on March 13.

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Good luck and goodbye

Mariana Rubinstein from the Miami Seaquarium Spring Break Campers group holds a sign on March 13, wishing Eve and Grinch good luck as the turtles head toward the ocean in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Loggerhead sea turtles are extremely sensitive to human encroachment and environmental degradation. Fishing gear, artificial light, destruction of nesting habitats, invasive exotic predators and ingestion of plastic trash are all lethal threats to the global population.

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