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Cold-Stunned Sea Turtle Release at St. George Island State Park

Gulf World to Release 3 Cold-Stunned Turtles from New England Aquarium at St. George Island State Park Thursday, June 13th Gulf World Marine Institute is releasing 9 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, May 15^th at 11:30 am Eastern at St. George Island State Park in Franklin County. The release will be held at the first public pavillion In November of 2018, GWMI received over 50 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 nine 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. Thank you to Turtles Fly Too for coordinating the flight and Pilots Tom Copper and Philip Greenspun 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.