Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Female)
Back in January 2013, an olive ridley sea turtle beached itself at Venice Beach. Concerned beach goers called it in to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (aka NOAA) for rescue. The sea turtle was severely underweight, hypothermic, and had buoyancy problems when it was rescued. Why it had beached itself was not clear as it did not have any external injury marking.
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Fast forward to today, after nine months of rehabilitation by the Aquarium of the Pacific’s veterinary Dr. Lance Adams, she was released back into the open ocean outside of Long Beach Harbor. As it does take a village for all kinds of things, the Port of Long Beach and Harbor Breeze Cruises assisted with the release. Olive Ridley sea turtles are listed as endangered. The turtle has been fitted with a GPS temporary tag, so its movements can be tracked for the immediate time being. (more photos after the jump)
Photography by Paula Lauren Gibson/AfroPix
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- Tina Fahy, NOAA Biologist Sea Turtle Recovery Coordinator for California
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- AOP Veterinarian, Dr. Lance Adams
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- GPS Satellite tracking involves attaching a special piece of tracking equipment, called a Platform Terminal Transmitter (or PTT) to a sea turtle’s carapace (shell). The PTT sends a message to a satellite each time the turtle comes to the surface to breathe.
Aquarium of the Pacific
100 Aquarium Way
Long Beach, CA 90802
