Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Today was another exceptional day.  The weather was quite nice, only a light jacket required and plenty of sunshine.  We drove to Big Talbot Island State Park and walked along Boneyard Beach.  The park service strategically made the access to this beach a long and winding wooded trail, at least a mile long, to keep people from hauling beach paraphernalia and spending the day.  The beach is littered with skeletons of Oak trees and is quite an unusual sight. (See extras).

We drove just a short distance south to Little Talbot Island and walked along the expansive pristine beach (extra) before we had some lunch near the car.  While in the parking lot, we learned from another visitor that there was going to be a release of some Loggerhead Sea Turtles and within minutes, we saw two large pick-ups (utes) arrive and we knew this was the event.  My husband ran off immediately, but I had to grab my camera and big lens from the car so I was running a bit behind.  It was a long walk across the dunes to the beach and when I got there I could see that I still had a ways to go and I had better do it quickly if I was going to get to see this.  I got some shots from a distance as I was approaching and this one, as one of the turtles entered the ocean.

These eight turtles had suffered from hypothermia in Massachusetts last summer and were rescued, rehabilitated, and sent to the Georgia Aquarium, whose staff was returning them to warm waters of the northern coast of Florida.  You cannot get a sense of the size of these guys, so I have added another extra which shows you the aquarium staff carrying the turtles, as well as the spectators and the local TV station folks who were covering this event for the evening news.  

Just like the dolphins yesterday, another stroke of fortunate serendipity. 
Be sure to view the extras.

Backblipped 3/21/2022