Rescuers save 475-pound turtle in South Carolina
Over the weekend, a 475-pound leatherback sea turtle washed ashore in South Carolina. Marine biologists at the South Carolina Aquarium are now treating the rare animal.
The turtle's appearance marks the first leatherback sea turtle rescue in South Carolina. Experts believe this is only the fifth live leatherback rescue in the U.S.
Rescuers named the turtle Yawkey, since it was found on the Yawkey-South Island Preserve. Biologists have not yet figured out the animal's sex, because it is less than 10 years old and hasn't reached sexual maturity.
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Yawkey was hypoglycemic but had no external signs of trauma, and aquarium officials say the treatments are helping it recover. They hope to re-release the turtle into the ocean within the next few days.
