The Accolade Global Film Competition Award of Recognition in the category Nature/Environment/Wildlife goes to…Loggerhead Rescue - Turtles in Sicily, Part 1.

This recognition means a great deal, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to document the work of conservation groups, like Ocean Ecology Network and the dedicated conservation teams at Caretta Caretta, and WWF Riserva Torre Salsa.

My sincere thanks to the panels of Emmy, Telly, and award-winning industry professionals at Accolade Global Film Competition for this recognition.

The film tells the story of a young loggerhead turtle found in Sicilian waters, her flipper so damaged by fishing line it had to be amputated. Daniela Freggi, who leads one of the most active marine turtle rescue and conservation programs in Sicily, oversaw her care, while Dr. Pietro Santalucia, a veterinarian who has performed over 500 life-saving surgeries on sea turtles entirely as a volunteer, performed the operation.

Amazingly, the young, feisty loggerhead recovered quickly, was returned to the sea and swam away, her fate now back in the hands of an ocean still threaded with the fishing lines that brought her here. At the moment of release Freggi said: "Medicine can help conservation efforts, but when we return them to the wild, it is no longer just their world. It is ours too."

Only one in a thousand sea turtle hatchlings survives to maturity, a journey that takes up to 30 years. If she is one of them, she will one day return to Sicily's beaches to lay her eggs. A story told in Loggerhead Rescue - Turtles in Sicily, Part 2.

Thank you to Ocean Ecology Network, Daniela Freggi, Pietro Santalucia, and the entire Sicily Loggerhead Rescue team. This award belongs to you.

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