Green sea turtle rehabbed by Aquarium of the Pacific

The green sea turtle waddled his way into the San Gabriel River in Seal Beach, set free into the ocean.

For about six months, the sea turtle has been cared for by a team at the Aquarium of the Pacific, fed fish and plants and other nutritional meals. An injured front flipper has since healed and now, the turtle will have to fend for itself in nature, out in the open ocean where she belongs.

A subadult sea turtle heads out to sea after being released by staff of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The endangered sea turtle was rescued near Avilla Beach in Dec. 2023 and transferred to the aquarium where it received surgery for a broken flipper and other medical care. The turtle is fitted with a satellite tracker that will eventually fall off by itself. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A subadult sea turtle waits to be released by staff of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The endangered sea turtle was rescued near Avilla Beach in Dec. 2023 and transferred to the aquarium where it received surgery for a broken flipper and other medical care. The turtle is fitted with a satellite tracker that will eventually fall off by itself. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Veterinary Technician Louise Leborgne, left, and Senior Aquarist Stacy Hammond carry a subadult sea turtle to the ocean as it’s released by the Aquarium of the Pacific in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The endangered sea turtle was rescued near Avilla Beach in Dec. 2023 and transferred to the aquarium where it received surgery for a broken flipper and other medical care. The turtle is fitted with a satellite tracker that will eventually fall off by itself. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Senior Aquarist Stacy Hammond carries a subadult sea turtle to the ocean as it’s released by the Aquarium of the Pacific in Seal Beach, CA, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The endangered sea turtle was rescued near Avilla Beach in Dec. 2023 and transferred to the aquarium where it received surgery for a broken flipper and other medical care. The turtle is fitted with a satellite tracker that will eventually fall off by itself. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The green sea turtle released on Thursday, May 16, could end up making her way down to warmer waters, as far south as Mexico, or could join a sea turtle community that has grown through the years in the San Gabriel River.

Researchers will know what she decides. They’ll be able to keep a close eye with a satellite tracker that has been stuck to her shell that will be sending back data that will give insight into the species behaviors.

This particular sea turtle was found near Avila Beach on Dec. 11 by the Marine Mammal Center’s San Luis Obispo operations based in Morro Bay. The turtle was transferred to the Aquarium of the Pacific, where its veterinary and animal husbandry staff performed surgery.

She came in weighing just over 20 pounds and quickly gained another six pounds eating a diet of mostly shrimp and fish. She wasn’t a fan of clams, said Stacy Hammond, senior aquarist at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

In the past 20 years or so, the aquarium has helped more than 40 sea turtles, between two and five a year, said Lance Adams, director of veterinary services.

Some have needed major surgery, with fishing line or other marine pollution ingested into their bodies, he said. Others have had severe injuries from boat strikes.

“This sea turtle was in pretty good condition, younger and wasn’t severely sick or debilitated,” Adams said.

The injury on her flipper was old, but healed abnormally, so they had to do surgery to fix it, he said.

Green sea turtles generally prefer warmer temperatures – 65 degrees and warmer. Where this sea turtle was found, off Central California, temperatures are typically much cooler and it could impact a turtle’s survival when they suffer from “cold stunning,” where metabolism slows down and they can’t swim to get food, Adams said.

“This animal was on the verge of that,” he said.

Sea turtles here in this area are migrating, traveling around to forage for food, he said. “They will go anywhere they are warm.”

The San Gabriel River has become a hotspot for the species, drawn to warm waters near a power plant, an area where there’s also a ton of food, such as eelgrass, readily available.

Cassandra Davis, manager of volunteer programs at the Aquarium of the Pacific, said more than 5,000 data points have been recorded the past 10 years in the San Gabriel River, with about 100 green sea turtles thought to be living locally in that area, as well as surrounding wetland habitats, which are crucial to the species.

Community scientists spot sea turtles every month in the area between Long Beach and Seal Beach, as part of the aquarium’s volunteer-driven green sea turtle monitoring program.

The tracking tag the turtle was outfitted with will stay on for anywhere from two weeks to two months. Some turtles in the past have been released, swam a circle and make their way back up the river. Others have traveled all the way down to Mexico.

“It could be either of those things that happen,” Adams said.

Hammond said the turtle has a “lively” personality. She’ll have a bit of adjusting, with her aquarium holding system kept at a cozy 72 degrees, cooled in recent days to get her body used to chillier ocean temperatures.

In some areas, the green sea turtle is endangered; here locally, they are considered a “threatened” species. Most of their threat comes from poaching or a loss of habitat due to coastal development and erosion.

“It really is an amazing thing to be able to get to release them in the wild,” Adams said. “That’s the objective with the work – every sea turtles gets a second chance to get back into the wild and add to its life, add to the population and can have significant impact on the survivability of the species.”

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