Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation

Working in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service, the Aquarium of the Pacific’s veterinary staff members regularly help to rehabilitate ill or injured sea turtles for release back into the ocean. The Aquarium has cared for turtles since 2000, including green, olive ridley and loggerhead sea turtles.

The sea turtles the Aquarium has worked with have been found with buoyancy issues, tangled in fishing gear, or otherwise injured. The Aquarium’s veterinarian performs exams, tends to wounds, or performs surgeries as needed to rehabilitate the turtles. Then the veterinary staff keeps the animals under observation to ensure their complete recovery before they are scheduled for release.

All seven of the world’s sea turtle species are endangered. Many of the beaches, where sea turtles lay their eggs, are being lost or degraded due to coastal development, pollution, and a changing climate warming the sand to high temperatures.