Melissa Nelson Gabriel

Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal

GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE -- Rex Schang, 1, waved and said goodbye to a Loggerhead sea turtle named Lorraine as she crawled past the crowd gathered Tuesday at Langdon Beach and made her way into the Gulf of Mexico.

Lorraine was one of seven turtles released by staff from the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park in Fort Walton Beach. The turtles were rehabilitated from injuries that included ingesting fishhooks and being entangled in fishing lines.

Gulfarium veterinarians preformed surgeries on the Loggerhead, Green and Kemp's ridley sea turtles and monitored them for months before determining they were ready to be released.

More than a thousand beachgoers gathered around the turtles, cheering on each turtle as it made its way to the Gulf after volunteers gently lifted it from its crate and placed it on the sand.

"I haven't seen anything like this before, and it is very cool," said Lisa Butte, a tourist from Williamsburg, Virginia, who celebrated her birthday by watching the turtle release.

Keri Amy, of Fort Walton Beach, tried to snap photos and video while keeping an eye on her 3-year-old daughter, Kali, who was enthralled by 183-pound loggerhead sea turtle named George, a crowd favorite and the largest turtle to be released.

The family whooped and clapped when George finally reached the water.

Meredith Horn, spokeswoman for the Gulfarium, said the group originally planed to release eight turtles. Gulfarium staff decided Guill, a 23-pound juvenile Kemp's ridley turtle, wasn't quite ready to be released.

Guill was brought to the Gulfarium in critical condition on July 25 after he was found entangled in fishing poles and a crab trap.

"He is doing fine, he just needs a little more time before he is released," Horn said.

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