And now, in incredibly depressing news that makes you shake your fist at the sky and ask why, and realize that any pretenses we had of a symbiotic existence with nature's creatures is pure malarkey and it's only a matter of time until we've ruined the Earth, we turn to the story of old Andre the sea turtle.
The Palm Beach Post reports that the 170-pound green sea turtle was stranded on a sandbar near Juno Beach in June 2010. He was rescued and treated for around a year at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. Finally, he was released back into the ocean on August 3.
On Wednesday morning, he was found dead on the shore.
When rescued, Andre had holes in his shell, a collapsed lung, infections, and three pounds of sand stuck in his shell, the Post reports.
Officials believe the injuries came from a boat propeller. They had to
repair Andre's exposed spinal court before he healed enough to be
released back into open waters.
He was found on Hutchinson Island on Wednesday, and identified as Andre by a tag on one of his flippers.
This incredibly depressing, really pointlessly soul-crushing story comes
at a time when sea turtles are seeing a little more attention, thanks
to the presence of activists at Tuesday's Fort Lauderdale City
Commission meeting. They said that Mayor Jack Seiler was effectively
"killing baby turtles" by failing to enforce low-lighting regulations
that help the young hatchlings' return to the water every summer and
fall.
Hatching season is currently underway. We'll bring you some more news
about the efforts to save turtles, hopefully a little less of an
emotional kick in the groin, in the coming days.
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