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Miami Seaquarium releases sea turtles into the ocean after completing rehab

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – The Miami Seaquarium has released two sea turtles back into the ocean after being rescued over a year ago.

According to the Miami Seaquarium, the two male sea turtles, Yule and Buoyance, were rescued off the coast of South Florida after suffering nearly fatal injuries over a year ago. On Thursday, they were released back into their natural habitat off the shores of Key Biscayne.

The larger sea turtle, Yule, was rescued from Black Point Marina in Dec. 2019 when he was discovered in dire shape.

“He came with hooks, fishing hooks lol over his body,” says Julie Heyde, who is part of the Miami Seaquarium team who took care of the two sea turtles. “We counted at last five that were internal.” He also had a few external hooks, which were easier to remove.

“One hook specifically got hooked on his esophagus,” adds Heyde. “So, it did require surgery to get it out.”

As for Buoyance, who was named after the issues he had when he first came to the Seaquarium, he was rescued from North Bay Village in Sept. 2020.

“He had some weird buoyancy issues,” says Heyde. “Floating on his back end just bobbing around from impaction.”

According to Heyde, they’ve already rescued at least 12 sea turtles this year alone.

Heyde says they are lethargic and malnourished. Therefore, it will take some time for them to rehabilitate and get released back into the waters of Key Biscayne. However, she says the effort to rehabilitate these beloved animals is worth it.

“When we’re able to get them fully recovered from their injuries and back into the wild it’s just so rewarding for the team,” explains Heyde. “We put a lot of hard work into them, and this is where we want them to be — back in the wild.”


About the Author
Annaliese Garcia headshot

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

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