A green sea turtle with an irreparable collapsed lung is making the journey from the Florida Keys to his new home in Las Vegas Thursday via FedEx, the Florida Keys News Bureau said.
The 320-pound male turtle – named OD after the Key Largo dive boat Ocean Diver that rescued him in 2008 – is heading to The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino after almost five years at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital.
Hospital officials had been trying to find a more comfortable home for OD, who is believed to be about 50 years old.
"Our happy ending is releasing them in the wild, but OD going to the aquarium he's going in, is the best life that he will ever have and he'll have people to take care of him," said Richie Moretti, the hospital's founder and director.
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He is expected to be admitted into the 1.3-million-gallon aquarium at Mandalay Bay after a standard 45-day quarantine period, the Florida Keys News Bureau reported. There he’ll live with sea turtles and other marine animals.
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The Turtle Hospital’s ambulance took OD from the Keys to the FedEx facility at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport early Thursday. He was then put on an A300 plane for the two-leg flight to Nevada. The FedEx trip is free, allowing Moretti and manager Bette Zirkelbach to travel with OD and monitor his condition, according to the Florida Keys News Bureau.
OD is due to arrive in Vegas at about 4 p.m. Pacific time, or 7 p.m. Eastern.
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Photo Credit: Andy Newman/AP/Florida Keys News Bureau