Sea Life Orlando Aquarium celebrated the 22nd birthday of Ted the sea turtle this week with a “birthday cake” made of fish, krill, pellet, fruit and vegetables inside a colorful block of ice. The International Drive attraction also saluted the shelled millennial with a giveaway of 22 loggerhead turtle plushes to visitors.
Ted has been in the aquarium since 2016 and gets his name from the Turtle Excluder Device. He was one of the first creatures to test the product, which is used to keep turtles from being caught in fishing nets. Ted, according to Sea Life’s website, was released into the wild several times but kept returning to shore.
Last year, Ted was voted Orlando’s most-loved animal in a Visit Orlando competition, and he will be featured on the tail of a Frontier Airlines plane.
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters or the Theme Park Rangers podcast at orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-podcast.
![From Amelia Island on the northeast tip of Florida to Alligator Reef in the Keys. From the pink sands of Eleuthera in the Bahamas to the slopes of Mount Scenery on the Dutch island of Saba in the Lesser Antilles. The May 2024 issue of our Explore Florida & the Caribbean takes you places – by land, sea and air. The new issue that will appear in digital format on Sunday, May 5, features stories on Florida’s lighthouses, cruise-line dining, a return to ultra-luxe Little Palm Island in the Keys, a camping trip to Peanut Island in Palm Beach County, a […]](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Explore-Florida-cover-May-2024.jpg?w=620 "From Amelia Island on the northeast tip of Florida to Alligator Reef in the Keys. From the pink sands of Eleuthera in the Bahamas to the slopes of Mount Scenery on the Dutch island of Saba in the Lesser Antilles. The May 2024 issue of our Explore Florida & the Caribbean takes you places – by land, sea and air. The new issue that will appear in digital format on Sunday, May 5, features stories on Florida’s lighthouses, cruise-line dining, a return to ultra-luxe Little Palm Island in the Keys, a camping trip to Peanut Island in Palm Beach County, a […]")
