{"id":770383,"date":"2026-07-18T14:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/770383\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T14:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:46:18","slug":"see-rescued-sea-turtle-after-5-month-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/770383\/","title":{"rendered":"See rescued sea turtle after 5-month transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The veterinary staff at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida has been behind some pretty remarkable sea turtle rescues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On their social media accounts, they\u2019ve profiled countless stories of resilient turtles. Turtles like Hope, a loggerhead who was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after an anchor chain mangled her front flipper<\/a>, and Nutella, a green sea turtle who had swallowed an entire fishing line<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, they celebrated another sea turtle who had come a long way in recovery: Flynn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Flynn first arrived at The Turtle Hospital on February 3, after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rescued the cold-stunned turtle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, Flynn was suffering from life-threatening anemia. Fortunately, he was able to receive blood transfusions from an older sea turtle named Sam.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Sam, a non-releasable resident green sea turtle (non-releasable due to spinal damage from a boat strike injury) who was our blood donor,\u201d the staff posted in a Facebook update on February 6<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to critically low blood levels, Flynn also sported massive fibropapilloma tumors on his neck, flippers, and tail. The cauliflower-like tumors can grow on a sea turtle\u2019s eyes, flippers, and internal organs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

Although it is common in green sea turtles, fibropapillomatosis is a disease that can affect other sea turtles as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, in August 2025, The Turtle Hospital rescued a loggerhead named Molly that suffered from a dramatic case of fibropapillomatosis.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, the 170-pound loggerhead had a massive 10-pound tumor that was bigger than her head. Fortunately, when Molly underwent surgery, she passed \u201cwith flying colors\u201d and was released back to the ocean on November 25, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now, Flynn has followed in her footsteps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter receiving two blood transfusions and undergoing surgery with Dr. Terry today, Flynn is now tumor-free!\u201d The Turtle Hospital shared on Facebook on May 26<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Medical<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

After his tumors were removed, Flynn received a series of post-surgery chemotherapy treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFlynn is responding beautifully to care and has already made an amazing recovery,\u201d the staff said. \u201cHis resilience continues to inspire our team every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

After five months of medical care, a steady diet of squid and mackerel, no signs of tumor regrowth, and \u201czoomies\u201d in his swimming tank, Flynn was finally ready to return to the ocean. He got his \u201cswimming papers\u201d from Dr. Terry and was released back to the Florida Keys on July 17.<\/p>\n

\"Sea<\/p>\n

\u201cFlynn is officially back where he belongs!\u201d The Turtle Hospital shared on Facebook<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter months of rehabilitation, Flynn\u2019s release this morning was everything we could have hoped for. We were thrilled to be joined by a wonderful crowd, along with our founder and director, Richie Moretti, to celebrate this incredible milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite a little \u201csargassum,\u201d or algae, along the shoreline, Flynn was undeterred. As volunteers carried him through the air, his flippers were already \u201cswimming\u201d before he even touched water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFlynn didn\u2019t hesitate \u2014 he was feeling feisty and more than ready to get back out there!\u201d the hospital shared. \u201cWatching him swim back into the ocean after overcoming cold stunning, severe anemia, fibropapillomatosis tumors, and two life-saving blood transfusions is a reminder of why this work matters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Turtle Hospital signed off by wishing Flynn \u201ccalm seas\u201d and a long, happy life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be cheering you on from shore!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

You may also like: These 3 small changes to your next beach trip could save endangered sea turtles<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

Featured image: Turtle Hospital\/Facebook<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The veterinary staff at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida has been behind some pretty remarkable sea turtle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-770383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}