Rescued turtle heading to new home in San Diego
Source: AP-Excite
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — A loggerhead sea turtle named Sapphire is getting ready for a cross-country trip on Thursday to a permanent home in Southern California after convalescing for more than a year at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital.
Final preparations were being made Wednesday for the 2,500-mile journey to The Living Coast Discovery Center near San Diego.
The 129-pound subadult female cannot be released in the wild because she can't submerge without the two pounds of weights that are attached with epoxy to its carapace. As the turtle continues to grow, the weights will eventually fall off and new weights will need to be installed.
"She has 'bubble butt' syndrome," said Turtle Hospital manager Bette Zirkelbach. "She is unable to evacuate air from her lungs due to a spinal cord injury, so unfortunately for Sapphire, she is nonreleasable."
FULL story at link.
In this Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, "Sapphire" a subadult loggerhead sea turtle, surfaces in a holding pool at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Fla. Because of a boat strike injury, the reptile cannot submerge without weights affixed to its carapace and can't be released. It is scheduled to travel Thursday, Sept. 25, via FedEx to its new permanent home at the Living Coast Discovery Center near San Diego. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140924/us--turtle_transport-df44411b55.html
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Yay, tertoo! 
