Baby sea turtles The Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center is caring for more than 200 baby sea turtles that were rescued from the coast following Hurricane Ian. (Brevard Zoo)
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center is caring for more than 200 baby sea turtles that were rescued from the coast following Hurricane Ian.
The zoo said the babies include green loggerhead turtles and a few hawksbill sea turtles, most of them rescued from the Cape Canaveral area following the storm on Sept. 29.
Zoo officials said it’s typical for major weather events like a hurricane to waylay baby sea turtles and that many sea turtles rehabilitation centers along the Atlantic coastline are seeing an influx in numbers.
While the turtles are at the center, zoo officials said they’re kept in a tank outfitted with enrichment items.
The babies will be released by boat back in the Atlantic once ocean conditions improve.
If you find a baby sea turtle on the beach, officials urge you to not place them back in the water and instead call Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-3922 for rescue instructions. If you find distressed, sick, dead or injured sea turtles in Brevard County, you can contact the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-676-1701.
Video: FWC reminds residents, visitors to help keep sea turtles safe during nesting season The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reminding people in Florida about nesting season for sea turtles. (WFTV)
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SeaWorld sea turtle release After months of rehabilitation, SeaWorld returned 10 rehabbed, critically endangered sea turtles to the ocean in Brevard County on Monday. (SeaWorld Orlando)
SeaWorld sea turtle release The 10 juvenile turtles join more than 2,500 sick, stranded, and injured sea turtles rescued and rehabilitated by SeaWorld coast-to-coast since 1980. (Alex Stiner/SeaWorld Orlando)
SeaWorld sea turtle release The 10 juvenile turtles join more than 2,500 sick, stranded, and injured sea turtles rescued and rehabilitated by SeaWorld coast-to-coast since 1980. (Alex Stiner/SeaWorld Orlando)
Hiccup Five months after Hiccup’s rescue, the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center returned the turtle to the sea this week. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtle release The organizations released a green sea turtle named Schnitzel and a Loggerhead named Sunflower, weighing in at 130 pounds, back to the ocean. (Brevard County Fire Rescue)
Sea turtle release The organizations released a green sea turtle named Schnitzel and a Loggerhead named Sunflower, weighing in at 130 pounds, back to the ocean. (Brevard County Fire Rescue)
Sea turtle release The organizations released a green sea turtle named Schnitzel and a Loggerhead named Sunflower, weighing in at 130 pounds, back to the ocean. (Brevard County Fire Rescue)
Sea turtles Brevard County Two dozen sea turtles have washed up on shore in Brevard County as Tropical Storm Eta has been bringing wind and some rain to the area all day Monday. (WFTV Staff)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtles More than a dozen sick sea turtles have been rescued in recent days and are receiving treatment at the Sea Turtle Healing Center at the Brevard Zoo. (WFTV Staff)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Sea turtle release A 370-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Perseverance made her return to the ocean on Tuesday after a three-month stay at the zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center. (Brevard Zoo)
Large distressed loggerhead turtle rescued out of ocean near Ormond Beach
Large distressed loggerhead turtle rescued out of ocean near Ormond Beach
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA)
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA/Chris Swanson/NASA)
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA)
Sea turtles released Staff with NASA, the National Park Service, Herndon Solutions Group, the center’s environmental services contractor, and others released Kemp’s ridley sea turtles into the Atlantic Ocean at the Canaveral National Seashore near Kennedy Space Center on Friday. (NASA)
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Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.
