A crowd watches as a nearly 300 pound loggerhead sea turtle, that was rehabilitated by the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team, is released back into the ocean off the southern shores of Croatan Beach in Virginia Beach, Va. on Oct. 18, 2011.
The adult loggerhead had his left front flipper amputated because of injuries he suffered during his May 22 encounter with a crab pot line off Cape Charles. The wound has since healed and he has adapted to swimming without his flipper. He is one the largest sea turtles to ever be rehabilitated by the aquarium.