Rescued Sea Turtles Have Audience of 1,000 Cheering As They're Returned to The Ocean

A couple of rescued sea turtles had quite the audience when they were recently returned to the sea in the Florida Keys.

Little Money, a 365-pound female green sea turtle, and Coco, a male 215-pound loggerhead, were set free at Sombrero Beach in Marathon Key last week as around 1,000 people cheered them on.

According to the Florida Keys News Bureau, the reptiles were found floating offshore and treated by The Turtle Hospital for gastrointestinal issues.

The turtles were given intravenous nutrition, antibiotics, and a diet of fish and squid before being deemed healthy enough for release.

As Little Monkey and Coco return to their lives, anyone can follow their migration thanks to low-wattage satellite tracking devices they were tagged with as part of the Sea Turtle Conservancy's Tour de Turtles.

The "race" racks several species’ migration over three months. Little Money and Coco are the only rehabilitated turtles in the race, which begins Aug. 1 and can be watched here.

The turtle that covers the most distance will be declared the winner.

Other competing turtles have been released off mainland Florida as well as from Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

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