Three sea turtles have been released into the Gulf of Mexico after rehabilitation by Audubon Aquarium Rescue. Stranding and Rehab Coordinator Gabriela Harlamert says two critically endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles, Libra and Dorado, were rescued after cold-stunning in New England and treated in New Orleans.
“They were the last two of our cold-stunned class this year. We took 31 Kemp’s this year for rehab, and these were our final two to get back out into the Gulf.”
Francois, a 227-pound loggerhead found weak and dehydrated in Louisiana, also returned to the Gulf after nearly two years of care. Harlamert says Francois had buoyancy issues…
“We partnered with the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. We brought him up to LSU for come CT scans. He actually had a parasitic lung infection, and once we treated those parasites in the lungs the buoyancy problems cleared itself up.”
Harlamert says the two Kemp’s turtles were originally set to be released earlier, but had some long-term effects from the cold-stunned
“One of them, Durado, that turtele had pneumonia. Some pretty stubborn pneumonia if were being honest, and just took a little more TLC.”
