Where's Kirby? Satellite Tag Allows Public To Track Sea Turtle

CLEARWATER, FL -- Weighing in at a hefty 225 pounds, Kirby, an endangered male loggerhead sea turtle that was nursed back to health at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, is back in his old stomping (or, swimming) grounds in the Gulf of Mexico.

The aquarium was able to release Kirby on Tuesday, May 14, after the public stepped in to help raise funds to purchase a tracker for the sea turtle.

The nonprofit aquarium launched a Facebook campaign to raise the $5,000 needed to purchase a tracker for Kirby. In just over two weeks, more than 170 people had donated $4,871 to the campaign.

Before releasing Kirby this week, a tracker tag was attached to him allowing research and veterinary teams to track him by satellite. The data from the tracker will help them better understand the movements and behaviors of these turtles, which spend 90 percent of their lives in the water. By studying their behavior, researchers hope to find ways to better protect them.

The community can also keep track of Kirby and other tagged sea creatures rehabilitated by the aquarium by clicking here.

So far, Kirby's tracker shows he's not afraid to explore his environment. After being released on Tuesday, he's traveled nine miles. After heading south to Belleair Shore, he's currently swimming back north toward Sand Key Park.

Other turtles being tracked by the aquarium include Bowser, who was tagged in 2018; Xeno, who was released in 2016; Kreacher, who was released ahead of Xeno in 2016; and Ozzy, who was released with a tracker in September 2015.

On Jan. 29, Kirby was found floating near Indian Rocks Beach. When aquarium staff rescued him, he had a T-shaped wound on his head, several barnacles and algae on his carapace and a buoyancy issue most likely caused by a gastrointestinal tract problem.

After a regimen of fluids, vitamins, antibiotics and monitoring, Kirby steadily gained weight and his buoyancy improved. After several months of rehabilitation, he fully recovered and approved for release by both aquarium vets and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.