The Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach has seen a great deal of success in the cleaning and de-oiling of over 140 sea-turtles since the BP oil spill crisis.

In fact, their perseverance is what prompted PCB Mayor Gayle Oberst to present Gulf World Marine Park director, Melanie Secret Holmes-Douglas, with a proclamation for her round the clock work. The proclamation officially names August 19 as “Melanie Secret Holmes-Douglas Day,” according to several sources.

Currently, the Gulf World Marine Park is the only de-oiling facility in North Florida, say state officials. This newly built facility contains “large tubs for cleaning the animals and a tented triage area to treat the turtles when they first arrive, including administering glucose and fluids, if needed,” reports the Walton Sun.

Right now, you may be asking yourself, “how did the state of Florida come up with the funds to build this magnificent facility?” The answer is- they didn’t. BP shelled out the bucks for the long list of equipment the facility required in order to provide proper care for the (BP) oil covered sea-turtles- justice prevails!

The Gulf World Marine Park’s de-oiling facility still has 60 turtles under rehabilitation, but “the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released 23 rehabilitated turtles back into the wild last Wednesday at Cedar Key, 11 of which were de-oiled at Gulf World, said Holmes-Douglas in the Walton Sun article. And, in July, 19 turtles were transported from Gulf World to Sea World’s (Orlando) Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, where they also joined in on the de-oiling and cleaning process.

As PCB Mayor Oberst said, “We live in such a wonderful community. . .  We are a resilient bunch of folks, it’s comforting to see how we come together as a community.”

The iTrip.net family couldn’t agree more.