We woke up and ate breakfast quickly today. We drove though the mangroves in Sisters Creek to get to Sombrero Beach by 10 a.m. to see a public turtle release. Dad tied the dinghy to a mangrove tree. The sand was the color of buttered popcorn. We walked over to a big crowd on the beach.

A lady noticed us as we arrived. She asked if we had seen the turtle. When we said no, she led us to the turtle. We didn’t know where it was. It was under a palm tree because he needed to be shaded so he didn’t get too hot.

It was a 105-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Mike. The lady from The Turtle Hospital in Marathon said he is 15 years old.

The turtle was waiting inside a little boat to be returned to the ocean. The lady from The Turtle Hospital was there with him. She said a man called Mike found the turtle floating in the water. He realized the turtle was sick and called the Coast Guard. They came out to check and said there was something wrong with the turtle. Together they all lifted the turtle out of the water and put it on the Coast Guard boat. They took him to the Turtle Hospital on September 30, 2016.

The lady from the turtle hospital said his blood level was low and he was anemic. She also said there was an impaction. She said this means that he ate something that wasn’t good for him. It could have been plastic. It got stock in his digestive system. He couldn’t get it out. At the hospital they gave him some oils and antibiotics. And it came out and he got better.

Today at the release, two guys from the Coast Guard came to help. There was a crowd of people on the beach to celebrate. Everybody was happy and excited about the turtle. The Coast Guard and animal rescue lifted the boat with the turtle in it. The Coast Guard guys got all wet because they still had their clothes and boots on when they took Mike to the water. They carried the boat into the water and tipped the boat so water filled the boat.

Then the loggerhead swam away. He made a little wake with the top of his shell as he went out to sea. It was so cool.