METCHOSIN, British Columbia –

Sean Hutchinson watches a video featuring a creature he now calls his friend – and once named after him.

“I jokingly said, ‘Might as well call her Shauna,’” Sean says of their first meeting. “(But in the end) it was Moira.”

But early on, while Sean was out on the ocean in his boat, Moira was an unexpected discovery hiding under the kelp.

“A head came up and looked at us,” Sean recalls with a smile. “It was the ‘Oh my God’ moment.”

It was a sea turtle, which Sean knew was far from native to the area.

“She was kind of following us around,” Sean says. “I’m almost asking for help.”

That’s when Sean remembered hearing about a friend of a friend whose wife was a marine zoologist and he called Dr. Anna Hall.

“I gave up everything,” Anna recalls with a laugh. “Sunday dinner was always on the counter. I just left.

The turtle was far from its more tropical habitat – only the second turtle ever observed along British Columbia’s relatively frigid coast – and was suffering from severe hypothermia.

“It looked like a creature at the end of its life,” says Anna.

So Anna rushed to orchestrate a rescue at sea, while other volunteers and spectators rushed to land to borrow a wheelbarrow and secure cushions to create support for the creature.

“And of course, a wheelbarrow fits in the back of my car with a big sea turtle inside,” smiles Anna.

During the five-hour trip from Vancouver Island to the Vancouver Aquarium, Sean sat in the back to keep Moira hydrated, and BC Ferries staff stepped in to make sure the turtle got on aboard the first available ship to the continent.

A team from the Marine Mammal Rescue Center spent the last eight months rehabilitating the turtle and named her Moira.

“Everyone was so happy that the turtle made it to the people who know how to take care of it,” Anna smiles.

Today, the first caring person in Moira’s recovery journey watches the latest footage of the turtle being evaluated at Sea World in San Diego.

Moira was fitted with a tracker on her hull to monitor her safety before being released into the much warmer waters off the coast of Southern California.

“It’s humbling to know that she’s finally back in the wild, where she belongs,” Sean says while watching the video of Moira swimming in California. “It’s an inspiring story.”

A story with an endearing epilogue, now that Sean and his wife are expecting a little girl.

“I mentioned we should name (our daughter) Moira,” Sean smiles. “So it’s up for discussion.”

Although Sean is grateful for all the turtle toys they received at their recent baby shower, the greatest gift is knowing that Moira is back home.