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.

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.

On March 9th, a team of marine animal rescue experts --from SeaWorld Orlando, NOAA Fisheries Services, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Chicago Zoological Society, Mote Marine Lab, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and University of Florida – worked together to free a dolphin that had been tangled in fishing line in the Ten Thousand Islands area, a chain of islands off the coast of southwest Florida between Cape Romano and Marco Island.

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

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.

As you prepare to stick to your resolutions for the new year, we wanted to share a few that we learned from our animals at SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica, and

SeaWorld Orlando is using a custom orthopedic brace to care for once-stranded pilot whale. The whale has scoliosis – or curvature of the spine – that prevents her from swimming normally.

The pilot whale is a high-flying member of the dolphin family and can be seen making audiences smile during the spectacular “Blue Horizons” show at SeaWorld San Diego, alongside Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

Hornbills are unique birds that look spookier than they are. Native to coastal forests and woodland areas throughout Africa, a silvery-cheeked hornbill named George calls SeaWorld Orlando home, and makes appearances as an animal ambassador. Let’s discover more about the distinctive hornbill: