Eight sea turtles return to ocean after months of care

BOSTON, MASS. (July 16, 2026) – The New England Aquarium released eight more sea turtles off Cape Cod, Mass., on Thursday morning. Among the turtles were seven Kemp’s ridleys and one loggerhead.

**PHOTOS AND VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE, WITH CREDIT TO NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM**

For the past seven months, staff at the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy, Mass., treated the hypothermic turtles for a variety of life-threatening medical conditions, including pneumonia, dehydration, and trauma. Staff veterinarians cleared the sea turtles to return to Nantucket Sound from West Dennis Beach.

“Each turtle that goes back to the ocean represents months of care from our whole team,” said Linda Lory, Rescue and Rehabilitation Manager at the New England Aquarium. “There’s a lot that goes into getting an animal from stranded to strong enough to survive out there again. Every sea turtle release is a win for the species as a whole.”

Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, loggerhead and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are threatened or endangered, facing threats including climate change, ocean pollution, and degradation of their habitats. Rescue and rehabilitation efforts help to conserve these species.

Scientists from the Aquarium’s research arm, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, worked with the Rescue team to tag the turtles for post-release monitoring. The tags collect information about the turtles’ behavior, habitat use, and survivorship, which helps inform sea turtle conservation and protection efforts, especially in New England where little is known about these species. This season, the team is using a combination of satellite tags for real-time data and acoustic tags for longer-term tracking; some of the turtles will be added to the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Tracker for the public to follow their journey. This sea turtle work is permitted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through Permit Number ES69328.

Aquarium staff, volunteers, and interns have a tradition of naming the turtles receiving long-term care, with this year’s theme being font-inspired names. Turtles released this past week include Roboto, Chowderhead, and Baskerville.

During the 2025 cold-stunning season, the Aquarium treated nearly 500 live sea turtles that were rescued from the shores of Cape Cod from November to December by staff and volunteers with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Getting these turtles back to full health requires a collaborative effort between biologists, veterinarians and researchers. There are 11 turtles remaining at the Aquarium’s Quincy facility, which will be released off Cape Cod this summer once medically cleared by Aquarium veterinarians.

More details on the released turtles:

• “Marlett” (#473) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 1, 2025, in Eastham, MA
• “Roboto” (#505) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 1, 2025, in Brewster, MA
• “Mystical Woods” (#523) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 4, 2025, in Wellfleet, MA
• “Chowderhead” (#568) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 5, 2025, in Brewster, MA
• “Baskerville” (#576) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 5, 2025, in Wellfleet, MA
• “Oswald” (#665) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 11, 2025, in Truro, MA
• “Franklin” (#678) – Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
  • Stranded Dec. 12, 2025, in Truro, MA
• “Thunderbird” (#687) – Loggerhead sea turtle

Stranded Dec. 12, 2025, in Truro, MA

MEDIA CONTACT: Pam Bechtold Snyder—psnyder@neaq.org