National Aquarium Team Releases 19 Rehabilitated Sea Turtles in North Carolina

On Tuesday, April 15, a team of National Aquarium staff traveled from Baltimore to Fort Fisher, NC to release five rehabilitated sea turtles who have spent five months receiving life-saving treatment with the Aquarium's Animal Health and Rescue teams since arriving in late November. En route to the warmer waters of the Carolinas, the National Aquarium team coordinated with colleagues in the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN) to provide transport for 14 additional sea turtles ready for release after rehabilitating at the Virginia Aquarium and Pittsburgh Zoo.

Many of these sea turtles were initially rescued from Cape Cod by volunteers with the Massachusetts Audubon Society last fall before being triaged at the New England Aquarium for symptoms typical of cold stunning. Sea turtle strandings around Cape Cod have been on the rise over the past decade as increasing ocean temperatures encourage sea turtles to migrate further north than they historically might have. As the waters of the Atlantic Ocean around New England rapidly cool in the late fall, partner organizations throughout the STSSN are called upon to take in hundreds of sea turtles suffering from hypothermic shock.

Rehabilitation teams within the network work tirelessly to help sea turtles overcome the conditions common to cold stunning, including respiratory issues, dehydration and malnutrition, as well as eye and skin infections commonly acquired when their body temperatures drop to meet the frigid water temperatures surrounding them. Cooling body temperatures also leave them disoriented and floating at the surface, where small juvenile sea turtles are more susceptible to boat strikes, entanglements, frostbite, and larger predators.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) play crucial roles in overseeing the STSSN, which helps coordinate emergency response and data collection with partners like the National Aquarium. As a member of the STSSN, the National Aquarium admitted 30 Kemp's ridley sea turtles in early December, accepting another six patients in late December to support overwhelmed facilities in the network. Upon arrival in Baltimore, the Aquarium's Animal Health and Rescue teams complete an assessment of each sea turtle, administering fluids, antibiotics, pain medication and care specific to their individual needs. It is always the priority to return each sea turtle to the ocean as soon as it is healthy enough to survive on its own so that their natural foraging and migrating instincts remain intact.

To be considered eligible for release, each sea turtle must be fully recovered from any injuries and infections, and able to swim and forage for food independently. Of the turtles treated at the National Aquarium this year, 25 were returned to the ocean in a release in Cape Canaveral, FL, on February 11, 2025, and four were returned to sea by network partners at the Pittsburgh Zoo in Little Talbot Island, GA, on March 11, 2025. Two cold-stunned sea turtles from New England remain in treatment at the Aquarium, where there are also three locally rescued turtles recovering. You can read more about the critical, mission-based work of the Animal Rescue team in the National Aquarium's 2024 Impact Report released earlier this month.

Organizations like the National Aquarium help the federal government meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act by responding to and caring for threatened and endangered sea turtles. Collectively, stranding response organizations are estimated to spend more than $35 million each year responding to, caring for, and releasing stranded sea turtles. To ensure this work continues, the National Aquarium, along with more than 90 organizations across the country, urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act (H.R. 374/S. 843), which would allow for more stable and sustainable funding for sea turtle stranding response and rehabilitation programs, ensuring the return of more threatened and endangered sea turtles to the ocean.