Opal the sea turtle to be released after 7-month rehab stay at Brevard Zoo

BREVARD ZOO, Fla. — Opal the sea turtle will return to the ocean on Wednesday after a seven-month stay at the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center.

The young 7-pound green sea turtle will be released at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

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The public is invited to watch her be released, rain or shine.

Zoo officials said Opal arrived at the Sea Turtle Healing Center on Dec. 7, after being found floating in a construction zone in Port Canaveral covered in algae and barnacles.

Photos: Opal the sea turtle to be released after 7-month rehab stay at Brevard Zoo

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Opal the sea turtle release Opal the sea turtle returned to the ocean on Wednesday weighing double the amount that she did was she was rescued from Port Canaveral seven months ago. (Brevard Zoo)

Healing Center staff said Opal had caryospora, a parasitic protozoan, and was anemic and hypoglycemic.

Officials said Opal was treated with rest, an e-tube to provide nutrition, an anti-parasitic medicine to eliminate the caryospora, and a nebulizer for pneumonia.

Read: FWC releases new decals with proceeds benefiting sea turtles, manatee conservation

Healing Center staff and volunteers said they will remember Opal as a fun little turtle who loved to hide in her tank.

Video: Wildlife crews using artificial intelligence to help track sea turtle population Wildlife crews in Central Florida are using artificial intelligence to help track sea turtles. (James Tutten, WFTV.com/WFTV)

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