It was a glorious day for many on April 3, 2024, as nearly three dozen sea turtles were released back into the ocean after months of rehabilitation efforts.
Thirty-four rehabilitated sea turtles were transported to Jekyll Island in Georgia to be let back into the ocean thanks to multiple marine conservation societies and aquariums.
Each winter, sea turtles are known to wash up on various shores — specifically Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and certain New York areas — as ocean temperatures drop, according to a press release.
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Volunteers from the Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary began patrolling the Cape Cod beaches for stranded turtles before transporting them back to the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital.
This past season, however, was quite busy for the local hospital as nearly 400 sea turtles came through their Massachusetts doors.
The aquarium, running out of resources and space, turned to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service and Turtles Fly Too for help transporting the turtles to other organizations, per a press release.
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Turtles Fly Too used volunteer pilots to transport the turtles from Massachusetts and New York shores to other rehabilitation centers, such as the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Mystic Aquarium and the New York Marine Rescue Center.
Here, turtles underwent four to five months of rehabilitation care to treat their hypothermia-like conditions, which include pneumonia, dehydration and trauma.
“These turtles that [were] stranded late last year have certainly received wonderful care and are fully recovered as we send them back home.”
From among the six agencies that assisted with the rehabilitation process, over a dozen staff members were there on Wednesday, April 3, as 34 turtles were returned…
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