Yamaha test has `Wild Kingdom' moment

As part of a Yamaha Motor Corp. press event held Wednesday and Thursday in the Florida Keys, more than a dozen marine journalists aboard five Yamaha-powered boats documented the release of a rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle.

The journalists were in the Keys testing Yamaha's new offshore outboards, including the new V6 250- and 300-hp models. The turtle, estimated at 10 years old and 60 pounds, was apparently attacked by a marine predator and spent three months convalescing at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Fla.

Hospital administrator Ryan Butts released Kentucky (named after the home state of the boaters who rescued the animal) after giving the media members a tour of the hospital. The event was held at Hawk's Cay Resort in the Florida Keys and the joint event was coordinated by the Florida Keys & Key West tourism council.

The Turtle Hospital has successfully treated and released more than 1,000 sea turtles since its founding in 1986.