34 turtles spent the last five months rehabilitating at the New England Aquarium, Mystic Aquarium, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, and New York Marine Rescue.
The turtles underwent treatment for hypothermia-related ailments such as dehydration and pneumonia. After about five months of care at the New England Aquarium, the sea turtles were finally released into their natural habitats!
Swimming their way back into the salt waters of Jekyll Island, Georgia, staff members cheered as the turtles floated in warm waters. The turtles traveled from Massachusetts to Georgia with the help of Turtles Fly Too, a non-profit that’s airlifted thousands of endangered sea turtles swiftly to reduce stress.
This past winter, almost 400 sea turtles were rehabilitated by the New England Aquarium.
Every fall and early winter, hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles wash up on the beaches of Cape Cod, MA. Because of the rapidly changing water temperature and wind pattern, many turtles cannot escape the hook-like area of Cape Cod Bay before becoming hypothermic. That’s when staff and volunteers with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary come in, patrolling the beaches for stranded turtles and transporting the live animals to the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital and National Marine Life Center for treatment.
These specific turtles released in Georgia are the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, the smallest sea turtle in the word, and one that the aquarium notes is “critically endangered.”
“The rehabilitation and release of just one critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle can have a huge impact on the population, and we are grateful to play a part in the critical conservation efforts for this species,” said Sarah Callan, manager of Mystic Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Program, which sent two of the turtles involved in Wednesday’s release event.