CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We have an update on five turtles that were being rehabbed at the Animal Rehabilitation Keep.
Those turtles were released this morning at Mustang Island.
A crowd of beachgoers were there early for the event.
“We’re ready for some turtles,” one volunteer said. “We’re glad to have ya!”
Turtle releases always draw a crowd, but the people who went to this release witnessed something extra special.
“So today, we’re releasing five sea turtles,” said Jace Tunnell, director of Mission Aransas Estuarine Research Reserve. “What's interesting about today is that there are actually five different breeds of sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, and we're releasing three of those."
These turtles range from 2 to 18 years old and were taken to the ARK in Port Aransas for treatment of some injuries.
Some were found tangled in fishing lines, accidentally hooked, or washed up on shore dehydrated.
“You know there's almost no chance of you ever seeing these things,” Tunnell said. “The thing about sea turtles, they don't come up to land or sun, so if they're on land, something's wrong."
Some of these turtles are endangered breeds who went through rehab and surgery to be able to get their strength back and be released into the water."
These people got to see a rare collection of sea turtles that most people will never see in their lifetime.
"It was awesome,” one child watching Monday’s release said. “It's amazing that they're doing this for them."
Four of these turtles were rescued in May and one last winter. Now, all five are healthy and back home.
“Save the turtles, don't litter in the ocean,” the children said.
The turtle release was held on what would have been Tony Amos' birthday.
The release happened on the beach named in his honor.
Wednesday marks the two-year anniversary of his death.
