Sea turtle released in the Florida Keys joins "Tour de Turtles" race
MARATHON, Florida Keys — A juvenile green sea turtle rehabilitated at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital was fitted with a satellite-tracking transmitter and released from a Keys beach Friday to join the 17th annual Tour de Turtles, a marathon-like "race" that follows the long-distance migration of sea turtles over three months.
The turtle's rescuers returned early from an African vacation to witness the release.
The educational outreach program is organized annually by the Sea Turtle Conservancy to raise awareness about sea turtles and threats to their survival.
"Roseleigh" (pronounced Rose-lee), named by her rescuers after being found floating off Islamorada in March 2024, is swimming to raise awareness about water quality. Roseleigh was treated for a severe case of fibropapillomatosis, a deadly tumor-causing disease that may be linked to pollution in the oceans and nearshore waters.
After a series of successful surgeries and treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, fluids, vitamins and a healthy diet of greens and mixed seafood, Roseleigh is back in good health and is swimming strongly.
Roseleigh's rescuers, Cindy Wright and her husband Bosley, returned early from an African vacation to watch the turtle be released back to her ocean home.
"We just returned from Africa specifically to see Roseleigh released, and now I'm going to cry," said Cindy Wright. "This is so amazing -- we thought she was going to die when we dashed her to the Turtle Hospital and to see her now, all recovered, is just amazing."
Cindy Wright, a University of Maryland journalism professor who splits time between the Florida Keys and the Baltimore region, described the turtle's condition when found as extremely dire.
"She was in critical condition, bleeding from her right flipper, just covered -- the tumors covered her eyes, covered her shoulders -- it was so invasive," she said.
Hundreds of spectators including Wright cheered and applauded when Roseleigh swam away from Marathon's Sombrero Beach into the Atlantic Ocean.
"Roseleigh being a girl turtle has the capacity to lay hundreds, if not thousands, of eggs and help up the population of the endangered green turtles," Wright said. "So that makes her even more special, I think."
Roseleigh's progress — and that of nine other hard-shell turtles that have been released to participate in the Tour de Turtles — can be monitored online at TourDeTurtles.org through Oct. 31.
The Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys has been rescuing, rehabilitating and returning sea turtles to the wild for over 35 years.