Following months of rehabilitation at SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld’s Animal Rescue Team returned Mardi, a juvenile female manatee, back into the waters near Jacksonville, Fla.

Currently, I help supervise the Animal Ambassador Team (AAT) at SeaWorld Orlando. This is an area of the training department that many of you may not realize exists, but you’ve probably seen in action. You may have interacted with the animals at the SeaGarden, attend a school where we’ve made an educational visit, or seen animals on one of our many appearances on TV.

SeaWorld Orlando’s Aviculture team recently received the first sandhill crane chick of the year -- an orphan, brought in by a concerned resident from St. Cloud, Fla.

Earlier this morning, members of the SeaWorld Orlando animal rescue team returned a rehabilitated, sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle back into the waters of the Canaveral National Sea Shore in Titusville, Fla. This is the fifth turtle release of 2012.

SeaWorld Orlando animal rescue team received two hawksbill turtle hatchlings earlier this week. They are approximately two months old.

The first was found at Melbourne Beach by a tourist and was dropped off at the Sea Turtle Preservation Society in Melbourne Beach, Fla. It weighs only 2 ounces and is nearly 3 inches long. The turtle was in lethargic and weak condition when it arrived.

Yesterday morning, SeaWorld Orlando’s senior veterinarian performed surgery on a rescued sea turtle, removing a large fishing hook from its throat.

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day, we wanted to share our love for animals with you. Happy Valentine’s Day from SeaWorld!

This morning SeaWorld Orlando’s animal care team traveled to Satellite Beach, Fla., a warm-water site, to release two manatees into a side canal off of the Banana River. Both animals were rescued and transported to SeaWorld Orlando last winter by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), who was also on-site assisting with today’s release.

In the ocean coral reefs provide safe havens for many species of beautiful exotic fish. But this beauty can have ugly consequences. Many of their colorful inhabitants are collected for home aquariums and displays in ways that are not environmentally friendly.

SeaWorld’s “Rising Tide” initiative is funding marine fish breeding research that will provide a sustainable tropical fish population and lessen the dependency on coral reefs for home aquariums.

To kick off 2012 and get you excited for the opening of TurtleTrek at SeaWorld Orlando this spring, we wanted to focus on turtles for this week’s Species Spotlight. A one-of-a-kind 3-D/360-degree movie is only part of TurtleTrek’s allure.