Photos courtesy of the Aquarium of the Pacific.
A green sea turtle brought to the Aquarium of the Pacific on November 22 to be rehabilitated was released back to its home today, the aquarium announced.
Found injured in the San Gabriel River, the aquarium’s veterinary team removed a fishing hook from the sea turtle’s skin and performed a medical exam. The animal appears to be a sub-adult of unknown sex and weighs 57 pounds, according to the announcement.
“The turtle appears to be in good health, with only minor injuries from the fishing hook and scrapes on its shell,” Dr. Lance Adams, Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarian, said in a statement. “The turtle was eating and swimming normally in its recovery pool and was quickly ready to be released.”
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) tagged the sea turtle in order to track its movements for research purposes. It was released today by the aquarium into waters near the mouth of the San Gabriel River in Long Beach, close to where it was rescued.
In October the aquarium rehabilitated another green sea turtle, removing three fish hooks from its skin. The sub-adult female was released back where it was found into the San Gabriel River.
For the past few years, the aquarium’s Citizen Science Sea Turtle Monitoring program has studied the urban population of sea turtles in the San Gabriel River in conjunction with NMFS. For more information, check out the website here.