Rescued sea turtle living at Michigan aquarium celebrating 21st birthday
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A rescued green sea turtle at SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium is about to celebrate his 21st birthday. Happy Birthday, Benson!
Benson will turn 21 on Friday, June 15, and the marine biologists who care for him planned a variety of ways to celebrate!
According to the aquarium, the marine biologists made a frozen vegetable cake, with smelt acting as the candles.
In addition, they said they created a turtle-friendly version of red Solo cups made out of red bell peppers and other vegetables "because no 21st birthday would be complete without the famous red cups."
The biologists went into the 150,000-gallon Tropical Ocean Habitat that Benson calls home to give him the cake as an early birthday present.
On Friday, June 16, they will give him the vegetable Solo cups from the surface of the exhibit.
Guests are invited to join in on the celebrations on Friday, and the first 100 families to visit Benson that day will receive reusable Solo cups.
"Each year, more than 11 million tons of plastic trash enters our oceans," said Lauren Grauer, head marine biologist at SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium. "These reusable cups aren't just a fun way to celebrate Benson's birthday; they're also a great alternative to the more common single-use version and will help keep our oceans clean. In my opinion, there's no better way to celebrate!"
According to the aquarium, Benson was struck by a boat when he was young, and he was found off the coast of Florida. The Georgia Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center nursed him back to health. It was discovered that Benson has buoyancy issues from the boating accident, which prevents him from being able to live in the wild. So, he will live at the SEA Life Aquarium in Michigan for the remainder of his life.
The SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium is in Great Lakes Crossing Outlets at 4316 Baldwin Rd. in Auburn Hills.
For more information about the aquarium, visit here.
