VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – An injured sea turtle is recovering after the Marine Science Center removed a fishing hook embedded in its esophagus last week, according to a news release.
A local fisherman brought a 10 1/2-pound turtle that he accidentally caught to MSC where the staff operated on him and named him Renny, an Irish name meaning “small and mighty.”
Renny is a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, one of the most endangered species of marine turtle in the world.
“Without protection and conservation efforts the species could certainly be on the edge of extinction," Turtle Rehabilitation Director Melissa Ranly said in the news release.
According to the release, once Renny regains his health, the MSC will release him back into the ocean.