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Bubba, a 375-pound sea turtle found wounded in Florida, released into Atlantic Ocean
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY,
2 days ago
Bubba, a 375-pound loggerhead sea turtle, began getting treatment at the Brevard Zoo's Sea Turtle Healing Center in Melbourne, Florida, in April 2024. Brevard Zoo
After a slow, steady recovery in Florida, a 375-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Bubba is swimming free in the Atlantic Ocean.
The male turtle was found with injuries to both front flippers on April 10 by biologists with the Inwater Research Group in St. Lucie County on the east coast of Florida. The biologists used a crane to lift Bubba out of the water into a pickup and take him to the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center in Melbourne, Florida, the center said in a news release this week.
Over the past three months , Bubba was given antibiotics, as well as regular wound cleanings and cold laser therapy for the injuries to his front flippers, which the Healing Center team suspected came from a predator attack.
A freshwater bath helped rid Bubba of "an intensive infestation of marine leeches," the center said .
Crowd bids farewell to Bubba
With his rehab complete, Bubba was taken to the seashore in Cocoa Beach on Thursday, July 11, and released into the ocean, while a crowd of onlookers bid him farewell.
One supportive little girl held up a sign that read: "Bubba, you can do it."
He apparently could. As soon as he was placed in the sand by the water, he started pulling himself to the sea. Dozens of people snapped photos and videos as he returned home.
Bubba, a 375-pound loggerhead sea turtle, is released into the Atlantic Ocean in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on July 11, 2024, after three months of rehab at the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center in Melbourne, Florida. Brevard Zoo
Loggerhead sea turtle is largest turtle treated at the healing center
Estimated to be a 60- to 75-year-old breeding male – and likely a great-grandfather – Bubba is the largest loggerhead sea turtle the center has treated.
Among the treatments he got was "a procedure that removes old, dead tissue from a wound to promote further healing," Shanon Gann, the center's manager said in a Facebook post in June .
Bubba, a 375-pound loggerhead sea turtle got three months of treatment at the Brevard Zoo's Sea Turtle Healing Center in Melbourne, Florida, before being released into the Atlantic Ocean on July 12, 2024. Brevard Zoo
She also posted about how special it was for the center to help Bubba.
"He is an old, gentle soul," she wrote. "We are blessed to be a part of his journey 🐢."
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