SeaWorld Releases Rescued Blue-Footed Booby Back Into Wild

SAN DIEGO — SeaWorld San Diego released a rescued blue-footed booby back into the wild this week after animal care staff spent roughly three weeks rehabilitating the bird at the theme park.

The juvenile bird was found injured and lethargic in November near the Oceanside Pier and brought to SeaWorld. The "very thin" bird was treated for an infection and a wing injury at the theme park's Animal Health and Rescue Center, where it received antibiotics and regained 40 percent of its body weight.

Animal care staff medically cleared the bird for release and it was returned to the wild Tuesday about three miles off the La Jolla coast.

"It's very unusual to find blue-footed boobies this far north," SeaWorld senior animal care specialist Jonathan Dwyer said. "They're typically found much further south," along the Pacific coasts of Central and South America.

The rescue team has rescued and rehabilitated more than 1,000 ill, injured or stranded marine animals this year.

SeaWorld San Diego's rescue team has saved and rehabilitated more than 20,000 animals since the park's founding in 1964. The theme park chain's three locations in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio have rescued more than 36,000 animals combined.

By City News Service; Kristina Houck/Patch contributed to this report.