Mississippi Aquarium releases Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles

The Mississippi Aquarium released their first batch of Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles of the year.

Mississippi Aquarium employees and Gulf Coast residents said goodbye to 11 Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles who were released back in the water.

Each of these turtles have spent the past several months rehabilitating at the aquarium after being cold-stunned off the Coast of New England.

The team at the aquarium took the time to not only release the turtles, but to teach spectators about the endangered species.

This is the first batch of 50 turtles who were brought to the Coast for recovery to be released into the water.

There are now 39 remaining turtles making their own recoveries before they are released back into the wild. MS Aquarium VP of Veterinarian Services Dr. Alexa Delaune said, “We’re really happy to see all of the community support and happy for the introduction of sea turtles to the people around Gulfport and Biloxi. They’re endangered species so it’s really a treat to see them out of the water and in person. It’s really, really exciting for us to see such a crowd.”

The aquarium hopes to host more releases in the upcoming weeks.