14 Rehabilitated Sea Turtles Headed Back to the Sea!

Photo credit: National Marine Life Center

Fourteen rehabilitated Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are ready for release!

Those turtles were treated by the National Marine Life Center, the group that showed up to aid all the turtles stranded in the Cape Cod area in November and December 2014.

More than 1,235 stranded turtles were transported to the New England Aquarium for treatment by the Massachusetts Audobon’s Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary.

After initial triage, they were sent to various marine animal hospitals on the east coast. The National Marine Life Center received 32.

In a typical year, 150 to 300 sea turtles strand on Cape Cod. “Their initial assessments revealed a wide range of diagnoses including cold-stunning, pneumonia, fungal infections, flipper injuries, bruising, parasite infestations, and abrasions,” said Dr. “Sea” Rogers Williams, the Center’s Veterinarian and Science Director.

Now, three months later, the turtles are active and ready to head back to the sea.

The transport team will release these turtles at Canaveral National Seashore in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

You can read more about sea turtle rescues and releases we’ve covered this winter season on AwesomeOcean.com.

Read more on capecod.com.