Rescued sea turtles returned to the Gulf

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and several partners returned approximately 50 sea turtles to the wild on Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico off Cape San Blas.

The turtles were rescued during a cold snap between January 7th and 9th, when water temperatures dipped below 50 degrees, causing cold-stunning.

A water-temperature-monitoring buoy in St. Joseph Bay allows biologists to predict when sea turtle cold-stunning may occur.

Cold-stunned turtles may float listlessly in the water or wash ashore, largely unable to move.

In this state, they are susceptible to further effects from the weather, and to attacks by gulls that often involve eye injuries.

Many of the turtles would die without human intervention.

The affected sea turtles were mainly green turtles, but a few were Kemp’s ridleys.

Both species are endangered.

Most of the turtles were found in St. Joseph Bay, while others were rescued near Crooked Island and in Big Lagoon in Escambia County.

The rescued turtles were all taken to Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City to allow them to recover from exposure to the unusually low water temperatures.

The turtles were tagged before their release to allow researchers to individually identify them if any are encountered again in the future.

Biologists chose to release the turtles into the Gulf at Cape Palms Park on Cape San Blas because the water is warmer and turtles released in the area in the past have returned to St. Joseph Bay, which is a known feeding area.

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