By Gaige Davila
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
Three sea turtles from Cape Cod, sent to Sea Turtle, Inc. from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, after they were cold-stunned last winter, were released into the Gulf of Mexico this past Monday, in Sea Turtle, Inc’s first public turtle release since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The turtles were the last of 20 turtles from Cape Cod, flown in from Massachusetts on Dec. 8 last year.
“We are so excited,” Wendy Knight, Sea Turtle, Inc’s executive director, told the PRESS from Cameron County Beach Access #4, where the turtles were released, calling the event a “return to normalcy” at Sea Turtle, Inc.
The three Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles stayed at Sea Turtle, Inc. for five months, rehabilitated and monitored for upper respiratory infections. Sea Turtle, Inc. had received the turtles last December, just a few months before the largest sea turtle cold-stun event in recorded history, where over 5,300 sea turtles were recovered from the Laguna Madre and the beaches of South Padre Island.
“We spent an inordinate amount of time planning for them,” Knight said. “Never did we envision that they were going to be the dry run for more than 5,300 turtles. Six months later to see (the Cape Cod turtles) finally go and be healthy is the culmination of a very, very hard six months and a very challenging year for a lot of people.”
Knight said more public sea turtle releases are imminent once more Sea Turtle, Inc. turtle patients are rehabilitated. Sea Turtle, Inc. will announce releases on their social media pages.
“It’s really critical to us that as soon as the (sea turtle) is ready we return them as quickly as possible,” Knight said. “Sometimes you may get a couple of days’ notice, sometimes you may get a day’s notice.”
For more information about Sea Turtle, Inc., visit https://seaturtleinc.org/.
Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
1 pings
[…] By Gaige Davilaeditor@portisabelsouthpadre.com […]