The New England Aquarium released two endangered sea turtles into Nantucket Sound from West Dennis Beach on Tuesday.
Nine months after their rescue from the frigid shores of Cape Cod Bay, two Kemp’s ridley sea turtles swam back into the ocean. They were the last two turtles remaining at the aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy, from the 2025 cold-stunning season.
Both turtles were extremely sick from effects of hypothermia and received aggressive treatment, according to an aquarium press release. One turtle, whom caretakers named Young Frankenstein, underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy for a hypoxic brain injury, which quickly proved to be successful.
“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used in sea turtles for other ailments, but this is the first documented use for treating hypoxic brain injury in them,” said Dr. Melissa Joblon, director of animal health at the New England Aquarium. “It was remarkable to see the drastic improvement in Young Frank’s ability to navigate and forage for food, even after just two treatments.”
The other turtle, dubbed Shelley Volante, recovered from severe sepsis, bone infection, and inflammation of the muscle and fat, which required advanced imaging for diagnosis and surgical joint debridement.
Last November and December, the aquarium treated nearly 500 live sea turtles, most of them Kemp’s ridleys, that were rescued from Cape Cod beaches by staff and volunteers with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Biologists and veterinary staff at the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital collaborate to provide medical and rehabilitative care to the turtles for a variety of health conditions, from pneumonia and dehydration to trauma.
Aquarium staff are now preparing for the next cold-stunning season, which will arrive this fall, once the water temperature in Cape Cod Bay reaches 55 degrees.
