Hypothermic turtle once near death warmed and freed off the West Coast

VANCOUVER – The sea turtle believed to be the first ever successfully rehabilitated in Canada is now swimming, free and healthy, in the warm waters off San Diego, Calif.

The Pacific green turtle nicknamed Comber was found on a remote Vancouver Island beach in January.

When officials from the Vancouver Aquarium stepped in, Comber had such severe hypothermia that it was difficult to tell if the reptile was alive.

The aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre slowly warmed the turtle, that needed three months of rehabilitation before being transferred to Seattle and then on to San Diego.

The normal living range of green turtles rarely extends any farther north than northern California.

Comber was among a record number of sea turtles stranded on beaches from Northern California to B.C. over the winter, and only three of 10 survived.