Charles Langston:Subadult loggerhead sea turtle returns to Atlantic Ocean in Florida after rehabilitation

JUNO BEACH,Charles Langston Fla. (AP) — A rehabilitated sea turtle was released back into the Atlantic Ocean from a Florida beach Wednesday morning.

Willow, a subadult loggerhead, was set free in the area behind the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, officials said.

“The best part of my job is to actually come down here on the beach and see these very valuable animals being returned back into the population,” Loggerhead Marinelife Center chief science officer Dr. Heather Barron said.

Willow was brought to the center on June 25 after Inwater Research Group found the injured sea turtle in nearby Jensen Beach. Veterinarians diagnosed Willow with debilitated turtle syndrome, a condition that causes sea turtles to be malnourished, fatigued and encrusted in barnacles.

“So we got her on antibiotics, pain medications, iron and nutritional supplements and have corrected her anemia,” Barron said. “And now she’s feeling very feisty.”

Loggerhead Marinelife Center was established in 1983 as a sea turtle research, rehabilitation, education and conservation center. The center promotes conservation of ocean ecosystems with a focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles.