Penny the Hawksbill Sea Turtle is released in front of a large crowd of tourists and locals near Flat Rock in Ballina

After eight months of rehabilitation, Ballina Seabird Rescue volunteers couldn't have picked a more perfect day to release Penny, the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle, back into the ocean. Seabird Rescue general manager Kathrina Southwell said Penny had been severally underweight and suffering from float syndrome when she was brought in. She was in a terrible condition, a really poor condition. Although she only weighed just under 4kg. She was way way skinny and really sunken underneath, and she wasn't eating for quite a while, while she was in care. Penny was found in February by a local lady and her son who saw the turtle floating in the surf. In addition to being underweight and suffering float syndrome, Penny was also covered in barnacles and algae.The rehabilitation process consisted of giving her different types of medications and looking at her poo under a slide in the microscope and we actually found lots of micro plastic within her.