Grandparents everywhere enjoy summer outings with their grandkids, but so much the better if your grandparents live in the Florida Keys and like to do fun stuff.  Fun stuff in Islamorada can mean swim lessons, water park and diving boards  at Islamorada Founders Park Ron Levy Aquatic Center, building fairy houses and reading at the Islamorada Helen Wadley Library summer program and boating and snorkeling with an FWC captain discovering neat creatures such as manatees, stingrays and scorpionfish. But, an especially poignant moment occurred June 20 during a nature tour oceanside near Long Key with Capt. Liz Lyne. Liz operates Freedom Charters, and it lived up to its name by boat occupants setting a turtle free.

Larry Zettwoch of Islamorada arranged the weeklong “camp” for two special kids: Aubrey, his 8-year-old granddaughter from Louisvlle, Ky., and Wesley Kong who was visiting for the week with his father, Dr. David Kong, of Durham, N.C.

Lt. Liz, an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, took the group on an eco-tour. They ended up spotting and rescuing a big loggerhead turtle entangled in line, and the video made it on several television stations news shows including Channel 13 in Tampa. Yards of heavy line was wound around the loggerhead's head and flipper and it took several rope cuts to disentangle the large turtle. See video here.

Loggerhead turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act and are one of four species commonly found in Florida Keys waters.