Gulf World Marine Institute is releasing 4 more of the 30 cold-stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, March 2nd at 11:00 am Eastern Time at St. George Island State Park in Franklin County. The release will be held at the second large public pavilion (where the restrooms are).
In November of 2019, GWMI received 30 sea turtles from New England Aquarium. The sea turtles were flown by private plane from in Quincy, MA to Panama City Beach, FL where they were immediately transported to GWMI for continued rehabilitation.
During cold snaps, sea turtles can become cold-stunned (or shocked) by the frigid temperatures in shallows bays and estuaries below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the large number of stranded turtles in New England, the New England Aquarium reached out to other members of the stranding
network for assistance.
The four Kemp’s ridley sea turtles have been medically cleared by GWMI veterinary staff and have been cleared for release by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The public is invited to attend this event. Please remember that all sea turtle release events are subject to change in the event of poor weather conditions.
Thank you to Turtles Fly Too for coordinating the flight and Pilots Ken and Kristi Andrews for generously donating their time for this mission. We would also like to thank Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, NOAA Fisheries, New England Aquarium, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, GWMI staff and all volunteers that are working together to make this possible.
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