Munchkin was found out on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
They thought they saw what was a rock,
until they approached and they realized it was a giant sea turtle.
When she came in her temperature was very low.
She was also underweight.
The front right flipper and the rear flipper
were both semi-amputated.
She was not bright, alert and responsive.
She wasn’t active, and that’s not what I wanted to see.
Once we got Munchkin up to temperature,
we then actually put her in one of our rehab tanks.
I wanted to see her investigate her surroundings,
dive to the bottom, and rest.
And she didn’t do that.
As she increased her nutrition and started to feel better,
and the antibiotics started to really take effect,
we started to slowly see some changes.
Today she is a beautiful chestnut color,
and she’s put back a lot of the weight that she lost.
She’s really looking robust, she’s looking bright.
Her skin color is great, her shell color is great.
So you know, this is what we want to see in a turtle.
All sea turtles are threatened or endangered
with climate change and pollution.
So this center was built to help work on that problem.
Munchkin was rescued about eight months ago.
She now is just about ready for release.
When Munchkin came in she was about 300 pounds.
And as of today she is 330 pounds.
As we prepare to release Munchkin,
we’re also preparing to track her after she leaves here.
So in order to do that I will be working with Dr. Kara Dodge.
- We’ve never actually gotten tracking data from an adult Loggerhead.
So we’re really excited to track Munchkin.
The tag itself is relatively small.
Compared to Munchkin it’s actually less than 1% of her body weight.
She shouldn’t even realize that tracker is there.
- It’s a big day here.
Not only that Munchkin survived, but that she gets to go back,
and hopefully add to the population of Loggerhead turtles.
Well, we will be heading down to West Dennis Beach.
This is a great beach because
it faces a part of Nantucket Sound that is going to be great for the turtle.
A lot of great energy, so many people there excited.
You know, ready to see this turtle released.
It’s been a long eight months, it’s been a hard eight months.
So there’s been a lot of planning that then led to this day.
It’s always such a relief when they hit the water.
And just happy, you know?
Really, really happy.
- A little further on the sand.
- Let’s give her a hand guys.
(Cheers)
- It was really a beautiful sight
to see her take a breath and look around a little bit.
And to really almost have dawn break over her.
(Cheers)
We only have three turtles left right now,
and that is because the rest have all been released.
So that’s really good news.
- Munchkin is about 50 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The information we have collected so far looks fantastic.
It makes us confident that rehabilitation was successful for this turtle,
and that she has a very promising future.