2 rehabilitated sea turtles to join Tour de Turtles, fitted with satellite tracking transmitters

Two rescued sea turtles were released in the Florida Keys Friday to join a "race" tracking their long-distance migration.

"Little Money," a 365-pound (166-kilogram) mature female green turtle, and "Coco," a 215-pound (98-kilogram) male loggerhead, were returned to the Atlantic Ocean as about 1,000 spectators watched. The reptiles were rehabilitated and fitted with satellite tracking transmitters at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital.  Track the turtles here.

The turtles were treated for gastrointestinal issues and are the only rehabilitated turtles in the Tour de Turtles, an online monitoring program that will follow 17 satellite-tagged turtles for three months beginning Aug. 1.

"One of the key things we are seeing is that rehabilitated turtles from the sea turtle hospital in the Florida Keys are acting normal and surviving after being released and being treated," said Dan Evans, a research biologist for the Sea Turtle Conservancy that administers the Tour de Turtles. "So it does make an impact for these turtles that are being treated."

The public can track the progress of the 17 sea turtles online at tourdeturtles.org. The turtle that covers the most distance is declared the winner.

"Competitors" have been released off Florida coastlines as well as off Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba and other Caribbean locales.

"Little Money" is the second-largest turtle ever rehabilitated at the Turtle Hospital, where staff and volunteers have rescued, rehabilitated and returned turtles to the wild for more than 32 years.

After it was released, the huge reptile stuck close to the shoreline so hospital staff, assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard, decided to relocate the turtle into deeper waters.

The satellite tracking devices eventually fall off of the turtles' shells.

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Online: Tour de Turtles, http://www.tourdeturtles.org/