Rehabbed dolphin, sea turtle A bottlenose dolphin with hearing loss and a green sea turtle with a spinal injury that were both rescued and rehabilitated by SeaWorld, are finding a new home at a Florida aquarium. (Doug Smittle / SeaWorld Orlando)
ORLANDO, Fla. — A bottlenose dolphin with hearing loss and a green sea turtle with a spinal injury that were both rescued and rehabilitated by SeaWorld, are finding a new home at a Florida aquarium.
SeaWorld officials said Apollo the bottlenose dolphin and Boba Fett the green sea turtle were both determined to be unfit to be returned to the wild due to their chronic health conditions.
“While our goal is to return 100% of the animals we rescue and rehabilitate to their natural environments, sometimes they have chronic health conditions that make it impossible to survive on their own,” said Jon Peterson, VP of zoological operations at SeaWorld Orlando, and head of the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Team, in a statement.
The pair were transferred to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium on Tuesday.
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SeaWorld sea turtle release After months of rehabilitation, SeaWorld returned 10 rehabbed, critically endangered sea turtles to the ocean in Brevard County on Monday. (SeaWorld Orlando)
SeaWorld sea turtle release The 10 juvenile turtles join more than 2,500 sick, stranded, and injured sea turtles rescued and rehabilitated by SeaWorld coast-to-coast since 1980. (Alex Stiner/SeaWorld Orlando)
SeaWorld sea turtle release The 10 juvenile turtles join more than 2,500 sick, stranded, and injured sea turtles rescued and rehabilitated by SeaWorld coast-to-coast since 1980. (Alex Stiner/SeaWorld Orlando)
Hiccup Five months after Hiccup’s rescue, the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center returned the turtle to the sea this week. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtle release The organizations released a green sea turtle named Schnitzel and a Loggerhead named Sunflower, weighing in at 130 pounds, back to the ocean. (Brevard County Fire Rescue)
Sea turtle release The organizations released a green sea turtle named Schnitzel and a Loggerhead named Sunflower, weighing in at 130 pounds, back to the ocean. (Brevard County Fire Rescue)
Sea turtle release The organizations released a green sea turtle named Schnitzel and a Loggerhead named Sunflower, weighing in at 130 pounds, back to the ocean. (Brevard County Fire Rescue)
Sea turtles Brevard County Two dozen sea turtles have washed up on shore in Brevard County as Tropical Storm Eta has been bringing wind and some rain to the area all day Monday. (WFTV Staff)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtles More than a dozen sick sea turtles have been rescued in recent days and are receiving treatment at the Sea Turtle Healing Center at the Brevard Zoo. (WFTV Staff)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Large distressed loggerhead turtle rescued out of ocean near Ormond Beach
Large distressed loggerhead turtle rescued out of ocean near Ormond Beach
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA)
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA/Chris Swanson/NASA)
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA)
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA)
WATCH: Seaworld releases rehabilitated manatee, calf in St. Johns River Two rehabilitated manatees, mother and calf, were returned to the St. Johns River near Blue Spring State Park Wednesday (Charles Frazier, WFTV.com/WFTV)
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Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.
