COCOA BEACH, Fla. –
On Thursday, two young green sea turtles will be released back into the wild at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach. The Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center will hold the release at 4 p.m. and the public is welcome to attend if interested.
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Back in October, one of the turtles was found floating at Port Canaveral by a Rusty’s Seafood & Oyster Bar employee. After being examined, Rusty was diagnosed with a parasitic infection from the water. His infection was later cleared up by antibiotics administered by Healing Center staff.
The second turtle, Lucky, was admitted in November after being found on the beach with fishing line wrapped around her two front flippers. The fishing line did not break the flipper skin, which allowed her to make a speedy recovery.
According to Brevard Zoo, green sea turtles are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources due to human hunting, entanglement in fishing equipment, marine debris, shrinking beaches, pollution and climate change.
In 2014, the Brevard Zoo opened the Sea Turtle Healing Center that is in partnership with the Sea Turtle Conservancy and Sea Turtle Preservation Society and can treat up to 20 animals at a time.