CLEARWATER, Fla. — A loggerhead sea turtle is heading home after being rehabilitated at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
The turtle, named Wiley, was brought into the aquarium underweight and unhealthy in June, according to aquarium workers. Now, eight months later, she is healthy enough to be sent back into the wild.
“Wiley was found floating sideways at the Crystal River Power Plan in Citrus County,” Dr. Shelly Marquardt said. “When she came to CMA on June 20, she was very thin with several skin ulcers and algae build up along carapace, indicating that she had been ill for quite a while and not eating regularly.”
During her rehabilitation, she gained a little more than 38 pounds. Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s veterinarian and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission cleared Wiley for release.
She was let back into the wild at Fred Howard Park.
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