After 97 days of rehab, sea turtle released off Lido Beach

A male loggerhead turtle named Sea Salt was released into the wild Friday after he spent 97 days in Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital, Mote officials announced.

The turtle was released off Lido Beach Friday.

“The release went very well,” Lynne Byrd, medical care and rehabilitation coordinator for Mote, said in a release. “It is always a great day when we are able to release these animals back to their home.”

Sea Salt was found Oct. 30 when local anglers saw him floating about a mile off Holmes Beach. He was taken to the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital in Sarasota, where he “seemed very lethargic” and was not interested in eating, according to the release.

The turtle received daily fluids and was given antibiotics to treat side effects of an infection.

Sea Salt can be tracked through a satellite tracker, a device that transmits data when the turtle surfaces to breathe, at seaturtle.org.

“By tracking turtles like Sea Salt, we can learn more about the behavior of adult male sea turtles. They never return to land like females do, so it’s difficult to study them,” said Kristen Mazzarella, Mote senior biologist, said. “The satellite tag will allow us to follow his post-release travel as it sends us his location when he comes to the surface of the water. Fortunately, we can compare this turtle to other tagged loggerheads that have been tracked by Mote and other institutions around the Gulf.”

Those who see a stranded or dead sea turtle, dolphin or whale within Sarasota or Manatee waters are asked to call Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program, a 24-hour response service, at 941-988-0212. Outside of Sarasota and Manatee counties, call the FWC Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-3922.

This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 9:22 PM with the headline "After 97 days of rehab, sea turtle released off Lido Beach."