Miracle Comeback: Six Turtles Make Triumphant Return to the Ocean
Six rehabilitated sea turtles were returned to the ocean off Massachusetts on Tuesday morning, July 22, following about seven months of care for “life-threatening, hypothermia-related conditions,” according to the New England Aquarium.
The aquarium said “staff, volunteers, and interns” from its Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy gathered on West Dennis Beach “to send off the long-term sea turtle patients,” including five critically endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles and one green sea turtle that were stranded on Cape Cod last year after becoming “cold-stunned.”
“Among the group of turtles was ‘Hercules,’ a critically endangered Kemp’s ridley, who arrived at the aquarium with sepsis and severe gastrointestinal disease. After months of aggressive treatment including tube feeding, antibiotics, and steroids, the turtle fully recovered and returned to Nantucket Sound as bystanders cheered,” the New England Aquarium wrote in a press release.
“The aquarium treated 518 live sea turtles this past cold-stunning season. As the release season in Massachusetts winds down, the aquarium continues to care for six remaining turtle patients after returning 36 turtles to Nantucket Sound this summer,” the aquarium said.