POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Four sea turtles were returned to their rightful place in the ocean on September 5 by Sea Turtle Recovery (STR), a nonprofit hospital within the bounds of New Jersey’s Turtle Back Zoo.
The turtles, one 40-year old adult Loggerhead named Tammie, and three Kemp’s Ridley turtles, were released from the beach at Water Street in the morning. The beach was lined with tons of hopeful spectators who got a chance to witness the sea turtles making their way back home.
STR posted a video of the release to social media for all of those who weren’t able to make it to the beach. You can find this at facebook.com/seaturtlerecovery.
The first turtle released was 4-year old Glacier, one of the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, who was found, stranded in Sandy Hook this past December. STR helped Glacier recover from a broken flipper. Members from STR carried Glacier down the beach, showing him off to those who came to watch, and placed him down near the shoreline where he could wriggle his way back to the ocean.
Up next were 4-year old Junior followed by 4-year old Shellbie, the other two Kemp’s Ridley turtles. These turtles were both rescued from Cape Cod in December of 2017. Junior was treated for hypothermia and a respiratory infection, while Shellbie was treated for hypothermia and fungal pneumonia.
Tammie, who was found in Cape May by the US Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson in June 2017, was released last. The only adult sea turtle of the four, Tammie is significantly larger than the other three Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles weighing in at over 250 lbs. She was carried down to the shoreline by six individuals.
This was STR’s second release in New Jersey. The three Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are critically endangered, making this release even more essential in the fight to save the sea turtles.
For more information, visit seaturtlerecovery.org.
