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By Worthy Shen and Maia Huang
Taipei, Taiwan — Two injured hawksbill sea turtles recently captured off eastern Taiwan's Yilan County were released Monday after rehabilitation at the National Taiwan Ocean University.
Animal and Plant Disease Control officials in Yilan County said they received a report Sept. 13 of an injured hawksbill turtle in open water off the country's coast. Upon capture, it was found to weigh 2,440 grams. It was suffering from a damaged front flipper.
On Oct. 8, a group of fishermen rescued another young hawksbill, which had deep wound on its right back flipper, the disease control center said, adding that it weighed 815 grams.
The turtles began to show signs of recovery after passing plastic, fishing net and dead insects, said Cheng I-jiunn, a professor of the university's Institute of Marine Biology, which took them into care.
The endangered animals were treated with antibiotics by National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital before being returned to the sea, he said.
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