SeaWorld Orlando rescues green sea turtle

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A green sea turtle named Colin has been through a lot the last few days but the rescue team at SeaWorld Orlando says he's going to be okay.

“In Colin's case he had some dehydration, he had some of the normal things we see in sea turtles when they come in,” said Jon Peterson of SeaWorld.
 
After they noticed the green sea turtle wasn't digesting food properly they ran a cat scan which uncovered a life threatening blockage, believed to be ocean debris, lodged in his intestines.
 
“In this case with Colin, it proved to us that yet there is a blockage back there and we need to go in and see what we can do,” Peterson said.
 
The veterinary team at SeaWorld performed a three hour surgery to remove the ocean debris, ultimately saving Colin’s life.
 
“At this point he's still critical, we're only two days out from a major surgery, but he's showing signs, of exactly what we want to see post-surgical,” Peterson said.
 
Because Colin just had surgery, he first has to stay dry until his surgical site heals, that's when they can put him back in the water.
 
“When you open up an abdominal wall of animal that lives in water you can't always put him right back in the water, unfortunately if we did that could cause much bigger problems,” Peterson said.
 
He remains in recovery here at SeaWorld Orlando's quarantine rehab area, until their teams confirms he's in the clear to return to his natural environment.

“SeaWorld is one entity in a very large group of partners that work together with one goal , care for these animals and get them back out as quick as we can," Peterson said.