Today was such a special day for JP, a turtle whom we met one week ago at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno, Florida as the water was being drained from his tank. We watched him circling around not knowing why his tank was loosing its water. Soon, the water was gone, and JP was being lifted onto a stretcher. He flapped his fins trying to balance himself, then was strapped into place and was moved to the turtle hospital where work was done to disconnect whatever was glued onto his back.
As it turned out, JP had been recovering for 5 months from major surgery for the removal of many fish hooks, the loss of two thirds of a fin and assorted other ailments. He was given a clean bill of health, had a GPS monitoring device that would track his whereabouts for up to a year and was about to make his way back into the ocean. However, there was one major problem, heavy rain and a prediction of lightening. In a turtle's world, this is fine, but to the hundreds of turtle lover's this is not. So, poor JP was having his monitoring device turned off and had to wait another week to make his trek back home.
Today was the big day. A cart, with the turtle doctor driving, brought JP and two other turtles to the beach where a staff of marine specialists lifted them to the water's edge and placed them on the sand. They stared out at the sapphire blue sea. Before long, one by one they crawled into the water and with cheers from their fans on the shore, they swam away.
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