BUXTON, N.C. — Tuesday, May 23 is World Turtle Day! It’s a day to celebrate the amazing and resilient creatures.
In honor of the occasion, News 3's Pari Cruz gathered details about some turtles who got a second chance at life.
On Tuesday, May 16, hundreds came out to Buxton for the release of six rehabilitated turtles back to the sea. During the release, which was organized by the sea turtle hospital for the North Carolina Aquarium, four greens, a Kemp's ridley and a loggerhead sea turtle all crawled their way back into the wild.
Prior to their release into the Atlantic Ocean, the turtles were recovering at the aquarium's Sea Turtle Assistance & Rehabilitation (STAR) Center.
Aquarium personnel said every turtle that leaves their hospital gets a microchip or a tag to help identify them if they're found stranded again. The loggerhead turtle, an adult female named Miss Piggy, received a satellite transmitter before the release. This will allow the aquarium to track her and learn more about her species and how to help them.
The three types of sea turtles the aquarium released are species that are classified as threatened and endangered. Katie D'Addato with the STAR Center says this is one of the reasons the aquarium's work is crucial to the turtles' survival.
“Any turtle that we can give a second chance to is very important to contribute to their species," said D'Addato. "They're not able to reproduce until they're around 30 years old. So it takes a long time to get an individual able to kind of help keep that population going. So whether it's a juvenile or an adult, any turtle that we can kind of give a second chance [to] out there is very important to conserving the species."
If the signal is strong enough, Miss Piggy’s track will be shared on the aquarium’s website.
On World Turtle Day, and all year long, you can also play a role in protecting turtles! D'Addato encourages anyone who comes across a stranded or nesting turtle in the Outer Banks to call the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles at 252-441-8622.
