Houston Zoo Releases Rehabilitated Cold-Stunned Turtles Into Gulf of Mexico
The Houston Zoo introduced rehabilitated Kemp’s ridley sea turtles back to the ocean on Saturday, March 20, following several months of care.
In December, 120 sea turtles found “cold-stunned” in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were flown to Texas for rehabilitation, the zoo said. This video shows 14 of those endangered turtles being released into the Gulf of Mexico at Galveston by Houston Zoo veterinary staff.
Houston Zoo said six other turtles were released the same day in Grapevine, Texas, from Texas A&M University at Galveston’s Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research and from SEA LIFE Aquarium.
Houston Zoo Vice President of Animal Operations Lisa Marie Avendano called the release a “culmination of many weeks of hard work.”
“It really is a shared ocean, and we were so grateful to be able to support the sea turtle community in New England when they needed help with the large cold-stunning event,” Avendano wrote in a press release.
Three turtles remain in special care as they continue recovering from fungal pneumonia, the zoo said. Credit: Houston Zoo via Storyful
