NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) asked the Aquarium of the Pacific to rehabilitate a rescued sea turtle found injured in the San Gabriel River. The green sea turtle was brought to the Aquarium for rehabilitation on Friday, September 29. The animal appears to be a sub-adult female, and it weighs 71 pounds. The Aquarium’s veterinary team removed three fishing hooks from the sea turtle’s skin and completed a medical exam on the animal. “Based on its exam, it appeared to be in good health with only minor injuries from the fishing hooks. The turtle was eating and swimming normally in its recovery pool and was quickly ready to be released,” said Dr. Lance Adams, Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarian. NMFS tagged the sea turtle to track its movements for research purposes, and the Aquarium released it today (10/5/17) into the San Gabriel River in Long Beach, where it was originally rescued. The Aquarium’s Citizen Science Sea Turtle Monitoring program has studied the urban population of sea turtles in the San Gabriel River for the past few years in conjunction with NMFS. For more information, please visit http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/conservation/sea_turtle_monitoring.
Credit: The Aquarium of the Pacific.
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