Fiesta is ready for release this Saturday. Come give her well wishes as she heads back into the ocean!

The Turtle Hospital offers unique opportunities for the public to glimpse the end of the rehabilitation process–and, the most exciting!  No matter how many releases we’ve done, each one is beautiful and significant in its own way.  “Fiesta” is an adult female loggerhead who survived a boat hit and is now getting a second chance at life in the sea.  Join us for her release this Saturday, October 22, at 2:00 PM from Higg’s Beach in Key West.

This adult female loggerhead is fully healed from two deep prop wounds across her carapace. Now, she’s headed back to the sea!

Estimated to be anywhere between 40-50 years old, Fiesta’s still got half a century to live!  Female loggerheads will lay nests every 2-3 years once sexually mature and will continue to do so for the remainder of their lives.  They lay an average of 3 clutches per season, with about 125 eggs in each clutch.  That means Fiesta could still lay more than 9,000 eggs in her lifetime.  If just 1% of those eggs hatched, we’d still be adding close to 100 sea turtles to the next generation!  So, hats off to Fiesta and sea turtle rehab–which wouldn’t be possible without people like YOU.  When it comes to species survival, each sea turtle really can make a difference!