The New England Aquarium released four sea turtles back into Cape Cod waters on Wednesday.
Last winter, the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles were found near-death on local beaches. They spent seven months at the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital undergoing treatment for pneumonia, dehydration, and trauma.
Bucatini, Gnocchi, Kluski, and Bavette — named for pastas of the world — were among 518 sea turtles that were rescued after being unable to regulate their body temperature in the cold waters of Cape Cod Bay.
Adam Kennedy, director of Rescue and Rehabilitation at the Aquarium, helped release them from West Dennis Beach yesterday.
“We released the turtles two at a time,” he said. “One of them headed right to the ocean. We basically put that turtle on the beach and boom it was off right into the waves.”
The other three were slightly more hesitate but all ultimately disappeared into the sea.
Kennedy said he expects the turtles to head south into Nantucket Sound and loop back around to Cape Cod Bay, where there are plenty of crabs, mussels, and shellfish for them to eat in the coming months.
It hard to watch them go, he said, but it was a proud moment.
“These are four conservation success stories heading right back into the ocean. And hopefully at some point,” he said, “they might be nesting some day, 10, 15 years down the road and helping that population continue to grow.”
The Aquarium plans to release about two-dozen more rehabilitated sea turtles off Cape Cod beaches this summer once they’re medically cleared.
