I was developing "Queloniums, armoured animals" exhibit at the National Science Museum when a friend of mine showed me a small article from a local newspaper.

Some people had found a giant turtle on the beach that morning, horribly injured on its head.

The giant turtle was attacked by fishermen, who were hunting for her eggs and her meat. Somebody at the beach witnessed the attack and called the police. The police arrived before they killed the turlte, but the animal was already badly injured.

When I finished reading the article, I took my cameras and drove there. I couldn't believe what my eyes saw. It was an enormous leatherback tutle; eight feet long and about 400 Kg.

The biologists were worried about how to keep the animal in captivity. When these turtles are out of the water for too long, the pressure from its own weight makes it hard for them to breathe. Another problem was that these turtles were too strong to keep inside a pool. After an hour of discussion, they decided to release her in the open ocean.

Because I rushed to the beach, I was lucky to catch this entire story with my video camera and create a new exhibit for the tutles exhibition I was working on.

Because of my connection with the Museum and the turtle exhibit, I was allowed to go on the boat and film her liberation.

The marines had a big boat waiting for the turtle and lifted her with an enormous crane. They attached it to a back platform and we set off for the open ocean.

The boat stopped four hours later. The divers jumped into the water.

I prepared my equipment and joined them. Everything was wild and fast. The sea was dark and rough. The sky was cloudy and stormy. It was overwhelming, but beautiful at the same time.

The turtle was released but she was week and wasn't breathing well. The divers swam next to her for a long time, easing her way to the surface. I kept filming, her torso protruding between the stormy waves, to then dive into the calmed depths.