Stories about hurt or lost wild animals that are taken in and cared for by humans touch about every heart, and there's no plot point in the tale more moving than the moment when the animal, now healed or able to go on its own, returns to its home.
The emotion, though, is a glad one: We want to see beasties thrive in their original digs. "Digs" might be a funny word for the Pacific Ocean, but one endangered sea turtle was returned to his vast home digs after several months of rehabilitation at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service chose the aquarium to care for the sea turtle, which was found stranded by Marine Animal Rescue at Venice Beach last January. "(S)everely underweight, hypothermic" and displaying "buoyancy problems," the turtle was soon made at home at the Long Beach institution.
The now-robust sea turtle's celebrated splash back into the Pacific had one notable terrestrial addition: a "temporary GPS device" that will allow scientists to keep tabs on where the shelled swimmer heads next.
Want to track his journey? The aquarium will post updates at this page.