Bling (left) and Jiminy Cricket (right) are both feeling much better!

We are proud to be sending two rehabilitated sea turtle patients back to the ocean!  

Bling and Jiminy Cricket are being released at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at Howard E. Futch Memorial Park in Paradise Beach, located at 2301 Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway in Melbourne. This event is open to the public and will take place rain or shine. We will delay or cancel if lightning is detected in the area. 

Bling, a juvenile green sea turtle, was found entangled in fishing line at a fishing pier in Port Canaveral and brought to East Coast Zoological Foundation’s (ECZF) Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center at Brevard Zoo in May of last year. While our veterinary team was able to remove most of the fishing line after this turtle’s arrival, a fishing lure was deeply embedded in Bling’s front right flipper, inspiring his shiny name. The lure made three holes and had reached the turtle’s bone. It appeared to have been there for a while, and the prolonged bone exposure meant some pieces of dead bone had to be removed.  

After an 8-month-long recovery, Bling is ready to head home! 

Jiminy Cricket, a fellow juvenile green sea turtle, joined Bling as a patient in September. Jiminy Cricket was named by East Coast Biologists, a local nonprofit dedicated to sea turtle research, who found this sea turtle while conducting population studies on local sea turtles off Satellite Beach. They noticed a thin, lethargic Jiminy and got him some help. After being admitted to the Rehabilitation Center, it was also discovered that this turtle was struggling with pneumonia and a previous wound that needed tending to.  

After a few months of care with our veterinary team, Jiminy Cricket will be released alongside Bling. 

Have you found a sea turtle that needs help? Visit this page or call the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-206-0646. Want to help the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center? Support our Zoo, or view our Healing Center’s wishlist.  

We would like to thank the following generous donors for supporting our mission-based programs:
Flammio Financial Group · Stifel- Garvin Wealth Management Group · Artemis IT · Pepsi Bottling Company · Amazon · PCL Construction | Nassal | MEC | Heard