Sea Turtles Freed Back To Nature

GAASH, ISRAEL - NOVEMBER 21: Volunteers of the Israeli sea turtle rescue center free a Loggerhead sea turtle back to the Mediterranean sea on November 21, 2013 in Gaash, Israel. The turtle is one of two wounded Loggerhead sea turtles that were rehabilitated at the rescue center and freed today. From transplanting turtle nests during the nesting season to protected beaches, through the rescue and treatment of wounded turtles brought in by fishermen or washed up on Israel's shores, to the development of a long-range breeding program for the threatened Green turtles, the volunteers and staff of the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority are doing their best to protect the creatures. The numbers have dwindled in the Mediterranean to an estimated 450 nesting female Green turtles and about 2500 nesting female Loggerheads. Far removed from man-made obstacles and protected from their natural predators such as crabs, foxes and birds, the hatchlings make their race to the sea with the hope that more than 20 years later they will return to the same beach to ensure the species survival. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)