An orphaned manatee calf was rescued yesterday afternoon by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and then transported to SeaWorld Orlando late yesterday for rehabilitation and long-term care. The young calf was spotted swimming alone by a private citizen prior to its rescue from Sykes Creek in Merritt Island, Fla.

Happy World Penguin Day from the globe’s benchmark penguin exhibit, SeaWorld San Diego’s Penguin Encounter! Today is a special World Penguin Day for us, seeing as in another month, the Encounter will celebrate its 30th anniversary, officially becoming comfortably middle-aged.

Penguins don’t wear wristwatches. Nor do they abide by Greenwich Mean Time, let alone pay attention to its seasonal deviations. So, when the SeaWorld San Diego keepers arrived a bit early on March 11 -- a bit worse for wear and sleepy-eyed from springtime’s annual spring-forward ritual -- the penguins simply asked for herring, please. No sympathy granted.

Animals at SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove and Aquatica Florida don't celebrate the Oscars like people do, but if they did here are a few nominees we'd be sure to see...

On August 7, 2012, the Brevard County Sheriff's office responded to a report of a possible dead body in the Indian River Lagoon. However, when officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a loggerhead sea turtle, instead. Due to his unique discovery, he earned the name “Lazarus: The Presumed Dead Loggerhead."

SeaWorld Orlando's Animal Rescue Team returned a manatee to the St. Johns River in Blue Spring State Park this morning. First, he was prepared to be transported from SeaWorld Orlando where he had been rehabilitating.

Earlier this week on January 8, a team of marine animal rescue experts - from National Marine Fisheries Services, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and our very own SeaWorld Orlando – worked together to free a dolphin that had been tangled in fishing line in the Banana River, located near Cape Canaveral, Fla.

As we enter into a new year, it’s inspiring to look back and reflect on all that was accomplished the year before. Here at SeaWorld Orlando, a large part of what makes us who we are is the incredible animal rescue, rehabilitation and return efforts that happen on a daily basis.

From tiny newborn turtle hatchlings to manatees weighing more than half a ton, we’ve had the extraordinary privilege to care for some amazing animals and then return them to their natural environment, which is always our goal.