Volunteers with the local Audubon Eagle Watch group and a rescuer with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals released a recently fledged female bald eagle next to Lake Seminole on Friday morning.
The eagle had been snagged earlier this month in a net used by workers cleaning up debris in a nearby canal, said Barb Walker of the Clearwater Audubon Society.
"She was waterlogged and muddy," Walker said. "She was checked out by two vets and held for one week to make sure no problems surfaced, especially respiratory."
Coincidentally, a U.S. Senate resolution had designated the day of the eagle's release as American Eagle Day. The day is meant to celebrate the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States.
Jim Damaske, Times staff writer